Knox Magazine - Spring '22

C. Andrew McGadney

Elizabeth Carlin Metz, Smith V. Brand Distinguished Chair in Theatre

Liz Carlin Metz and her team in the Theatre Department are constantly engaged in almost minute-byminute problem solving, navigating interpersonal relationships, challenging comfort zones, empowering collaboration, and taking risks to discover new horizons as they and their students create something for the stage. Liz says that it may not be magic, but it definitely is magical!

Her work with costume designer Allison Smith Hahn ’10 and theatrical designer Craig Choma ’93 represents the intersection of her academic theatre and professional theatre lives, as both artists have designed for her professional company in Chicago, Vitalist Theatre. What Liz does professionally informs what she does academically, and the inverse is true. Several of the costumes and the set models in this photo are from Vitalist productions.

*Applause. Book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, lyrics by Lee Adams, music by Charles Strouse. Concord Theatricals, 1970.

1. Former Knox student Allison Smith Hahn ’10 engaged her curiosity and passion for costume design as a student designer, costume technician, and intern for Vitalist Theatre, Liz’s professional company in Chicago.

2. In collaboration with an actor, a costume can bridge the distance between the wearer and the viewer, and make the most fantastical character familiar to the audience.

3. Part of Allison’s “uniform” is a tape measure, of course! Somehow, by the end of most work calls, she ends up with a collection of them around her neck!

“Welcome to the Theatre—to this business we call SHOW!”*

Open

“LIFE ISN’T WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU, IT’S HOW YOU RESPOND TO THE THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN LIFE.”

NYERERE BILLUPS ’99

(PAGE 27)

Meet President McGadney

President C. Andrew McGadney started at Knox College last July. All roads have led Andy to his leadership role at Knox, and he continues to listen intently to our community to drive innovation and positive change with ultimate goal of moving Knox forward.

Page 6

Farm Term 50th Reunion

The Knox College Farm Term, held in Spring 1971, was one of Knox’s first immersive learning programs and a life-changing experience for those involved. This past summer, almost all of the participants gathered for a 50th reunion and shared stories and warm memories.

Page 10

Back on Track

The Knox track team is on (Prairie) Fire, and Coach Evander Wells is leading the way. Director of Athletics Daniella Irle says, “We have some really good student-athletes in house, and they want to participate in track.”

Page 16

EDITOR

Lisa Van Riper

LAYOUT DESIGNERS

Becky Hale

Ami Jontz

CONTRIBUTORS, WRITING & PHOTOGRAPHY

Peter Bailley ’74

Adriana Colindres

Kent Kriegshauser

Sarah Lohmann ’21

Maeve Reilly

Carla Wehmeyer

Matthew Wheaton ’10

Jan Wolbers

Departments

Open Door Inside front cover

2 East South Street Page 4

The South Lawn Page 22

Knox Writes Page 38

Class Knox Page 40

Parting Shot Inside back cover

Special thanks to Shelley Roberts.

Knox Magazine is published twice yearly by the Office of Communications, Box K-233, Knox College, Galesburg, IL 61401-4999; Phone: 309-341-7760; E-mail: knoxmag@knox.edu.

It is distributed free of charge to Knox alumni, students, parents, and friends. The magazine welcomes information and story ideas. Please query before submitting manuscripts.

ISSN: 0047-3499

Visit us online at magazine.knox.edu.

“Iceberg Wall: Disko Bay, Greenland, 2017”

Photo by Michael J. Godsil, Instructor in Art

This photo was taken in early July 2017, from a small tour boat out of the village of Ilulissat, Greenland, during a 13-hour, round-trip cruise to the face of a tidewater glacier. While cruising through the massive Disko Bay on the way to that glacier, we passed dozens of huge icebergs. Many were the size of small mountainous landscapes; but this was one of two or three that reminded me of the sheer, steep-walled, flat-topped icebergs I’d seen in photographs of icebergs in the Southern Ocean off Antarctica.

Editor’s Note

What’s New?

As you read through this issue of Knox Magazine, you will see that there’s a lot of “new” going on at the College. Our new president, Andy McGadney, graces our cover and publishes his first letter in this edition of the magazine. At the same time, we also feature our new Board chair, Tony Etz ’83. His leadership role, which started at the same time as Andy’s, provides Knox with many exciting opportunities for growth, innovation, and positive change.

I am also relatively new to Knox, having started my role as executive director of communications remotely from Virginia in November 2020.

Moving to the Galesburg area to serve our Knox community in person has been an exciting adventure, and I am thrilled and honored to work with our passionate, committed community. Also, for the first time in my career, I am an interim alumni magazine editor, and I truly hope that my role provides you with an interesting and engaging magazine. We also have a new staff member who is focused on working with our young alumni. He is himself a Knox alumnus and is giving his energy and commitment to Knox; read about Levi Morgan ’07 on page 43.

What’s new for you? Please do write and share, as we always want to hear from those of you in the Knox community.

May you enjoy your spring.

Regards, Lisa K. Van Riper

Letters to the Editor

1961 Blast from the Past

Upon receiving my Knox Magazine yesterday, I flipped it open and was surprised to find myself looking at me in line at the 1961 Pumphandle. I am on the left, standing next to Pam Mott, obviously lined up in surname alphabetical order. The other two males’ faces are familiar, but I can’t recall their names.

While starting with the class of 1965, I did not graduate until June 1966. I was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity and remained lifelong friends with several brothers. My wife, Sallie, and I have been married for 57 years, have two sons, seven grandchildren and three great grands.

I retired in 1999, after 32 years in human resources positions with RCA Corporation (acquired by GE in the 1980s) divisions and subsidiaries including Consumer Electronics, Random House, CIT Financial, and Hertz Corp.

We hope to attend a delayed 55th class Reunion and see our friends and classmates from ’64, ’65, and ’66.

Thanks for the well-done magazine.

Photo Credit

—Jon (Jody) Mount ’65

The list of photo credits for the feature story “Teresa’s Top Ten” in the Spring 2021 issue of Knox Magazine should have included Evan Temchin ’10, who took the photo on page 12 of a graduate taking a cell-phone selfie with President Amott at Commencement in 2014. That’s a challenging photo situation. Evan is one of the best photographers I had the privilege to work with in my time at Knox.

—Peter Bailley

Send us your letters!

Knox Magazine welcomes the opinions and comments of its readers. Write to the Editor, Knox Magazine, Box K-233, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401-4999, or email knoxmag@knox.edu. Letters should refer to material published in the magazine and may be edited for length or clarity.

East South Street

President’s Note

Moving Knox Forward

Over the last year, as I have met and worked with so many of you, I have learned that you share my belief that to secure the future of our great institution, we need to think big, be bold, and move nimbly. We must be creative and innovative. We need to ensure that the young students with potential from all corners of the country, and the world, know about and have access to a Knox education. We must confront the challenges of declining enrollments, decreased revenues, and unsustainable pressures on faculty and staff head-on. I believe that our most effective means to accomplishing all of these things is the collective power of the Knox community.

The passion our alumni, students, faculty, and staff have for Knox is palpable. The sense of community, pride, and commitment to mission is unlike any other college or university I have been a part of. With this passion and commitment, I know that we can achieve our vision for Knox; to provide an exceptional academic and co-educational experience in a truly equitable, inclusive, and supportive community that enables our students to thrive, achieve postgraduate success, and fulfill their potential.

In just the last eight months, we have hired new leadership in student development, advancement, strategic initiatives, and information technology services. We have restored the retirement plan match for faculty and staff, and are midway through creating a strategic planning framework to guide our work over the next three to five years. We have returned to fully in-person learning and residential life, and initiated a capital needs analysis to better understand and plan for the infrastructure and deferred maintenance needs of the campus. We held an in-person commencement ceremony for the class of 2020 and began planning for a comprehensive fundraising campaign. We refinanced our debt through a very successful bond offering and introduced new admission strategies including the Prairie Promise, which is our commitment to meet the full demonstrated financial need of new students from our home state.

Knox is at a critical stage in our history when we will differentiate ourselves from the pack of small liberal arts institutions by doubling down on our mission and moving at an intentionally rapid pace as we have done over the last eight months. While I will work with our faculty, trustees, staff, students, and administration to move Knox forward, we can’t do it alone.

I have seen the power of our community in action already. For example, Tom ’76 and Ann Feldman Perille ’76 once again organized an incredible student send-off event in Colorado in the middle of a pandemic, and Philip Sidney Post Professor of Chemistry Mary Crawford ’89 chaired the search committee that brought us our new Vice President for Student Development Dr. MarQuita Barker. Trustee Rick Veague ’79 and former Trustee Heather Kopec ’10 traveled to Galesburg to help review and advise us on our information technology services and advancement operations respectively. The results of their important work culminated in Lisa Van Riper being named vice president for both communications and information technology services, and the recent hiring of fundraising veteran Monica M. Keith to lead the Knox advancement team. Provost and Dean of the College Michael Schneider deserves special thanks for his leadership over time and for willingness to continue to serve the College as part of his renewed contract.

Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees Barbara Baird ’73 connected us to a small consortium of liberal arts colleges that consults regularly with leading medical experts on COVID-related matters. Anne ’63 and Roger Taylor ’63 have provided a warm welcome to Camille and our family and remain incredibly loyal and passionate about all things Knox. Trustees Carol Bovard Craig ’89, John Lawler ’88, and Patrick St. Aubyn Lyn ’84, along with faculty members Joan Huguet and Jonathan Powers and staff member Leigh Brinson, are currently ser ving on the search committee for our new vice president for finance and administration and chief financial officer. Harley Knosher; Penny Gold; Owen Muelder ’63, P’96; and Jorge Prats P’85, P’93 have generously helped me gain a greater understanding of Knox traditions and history, and Gwen Lexow ’90 has lent her expertise to our staff as we reviewed our bias incident reporting processes.

Saxon Alvarez ’23 and Alex Kemmsies ’09 have hosted interviews with me for student and alumni events, and my friends of nearly a decade, Paul ’80 and Tracey Rappaport Greenwood ’80, have provided equal doses of humor and encouragement as well as a very special, handmade purple and gold bow tie you will see later in this issue. Each one of these people, and dozens more who I don’t have room to list here, have shown me their deep commitment and love for Knox with their time and offers of assistance and support.

Knox’s success will be OUR success, and I’m forever grateful for the opportunity to be part of this community, lead our team during this critical and exciting time for our College, and partner with all of you to ensure Knox’s future.

Sincerely,

Andy M.

SÉAN ALONZO HARRIS PHOTOGRAPHY

C. Andrew McGadney

20th President of Knox and a Historic Moment for the College

In the mid-morning hours of a Saturday last February, then-presidential candidate Andy McGadney answered questions from members of the Executive Committee of the Knox Board of Trustees on his final Zoom interview for the position of president of Knox College. He knew the end of the interview process was near, and the weight of the moment loomed. While Andy waited to rejoin the Zoom session, he and his wife, Camille, attempted to make small talk.

Then the moment arrived: The Board of Trustees voted to appoint McGadney the 20th president of Knox College. Andy and Camille listened to current and former Board members share words of congratulations, inspiration, and they shared their excitement and hope for the future.

Knox Magazine writers recently interviewed President McGadney to explore his path to Knox and his vision and plans to move Knox forward.

Where did you grow up, and what experiences did you have growing up that fostered your love of education?

I am a Northeasterner with deep Southern roots; I grew up in Bloomfield, Connecticut, a suburb of Hartford.

My parents are from the Mobile, Alabama area. They understood that opportunity and education were the keys to a successful life. They both had college degrees from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and yet, for many years, my dad could not find a well-paying, professional job in the South. Eventually, with the sup port from family, my parents ventured to Bloomfield, where my dad worked as a highway draftsman with the State of Connecticut for more than 30 years.

My love of education comes from my mom, who was a first grade teacher in the Hartford public school system. I have warm memories of many of my mother’s former students telling me about the incredible impact she had on their lives. These stories were life changing, and I saw the positive impact one could make on someone’s life through education, and that inspired me to choose this path.

What was your first job out of college, and what did you learn from it?

I was an account representative for Otis Elevator. It was a wonderful experience, one in which I learned many lessons. I got the job through INROADS, an organization that provides entry into leadership roles in corporate America for talented young professionals of color.

The most powerful lesson I learned was that respect and the ability to operate successfully in any field are earned through building strong relationships.

When I worked at Otis in the early 1990s there was a sense of division between the office staff and the mechanics. I realized early on that the mechanics were the heart of the company. They were talented, hardworking people who had long-term client relationships, were the first to see changes and challenges, and were problem solvers. I learned so much from them and I had a deep respect for their skills and dedication.

Tell us about your higher education career after Otis Elevator and before Knox.

A position opened at my alma mater— Wesleyan University—to be part of the annual fund team; this was my pivot into higher education.

After many years in several different positions at Wesleyan, I joined two excellent institutions in leadership roles —Clark University, followed by Colby College.

Along the way, I got a master’s degree in public administration and policy from Columbia University, and a doctorate in higher education from University of Pennsylvania. The

executive doctorate program at UPenn was life changing and deeply immersive; I especially enjoyed the almost daily thought-provoking conversations with some of the most innovative and influential leaders in higher education.

When I was named as president of Knox, a former supervisor and now good friend mentioned to me that when I was a student at Wesleyan, I told him I wanted to be a college president. The role of president is the fulfillment of all of my higher education passions: Fundraising to support inspiring initiatives for students and the innovative work of faculty, engaging with all members of a diverse community, and leading innovation to put a college on the map in even bigger ways.

What do you most appreciate about small liberal arts colleges?

Small liberal arts colleges are the sweet spot of what our world needs today— places where students are taught the importance of engaging in meaningful research, understanding all sides of issues, and having difficult dialogues in respectful ways about those issues.

These colleges, and specifically Knox, work hard to create an environment where differing opinions can still come together. Small liberal arts colleges have the obligation to ensure young minds are developed so they are open and willing to have difficult dialogues about differing viewpoints.

What appealed to you about the opportunity to lead Knox College?

I saw an opportunity to help make a great institution even better. The Knox community has a deep passion and commitment to the College; there is a strong institutional history built over the last 184 years here in Galesburg. I felt an instant connection to the people and the mission, and our community is ready to take bold steps to ensure success for future generations.

What has been your focus during the first months of your presidency?

I have been focused on listening and learning—hearing where people are coming from, and ensuring I understand the various differences

in perspectives. I am meeting with students, faculty, staff, Galesburg leaders, and as many alumni as I safely can in person and virtually since I started in this role.

While listening and learning, I am simultaneously working with the Board of Trustees and the senior leadership team on goal setting, and short- and long-term planning. Later this year, in partnership with the Board of Trustees, I will recommend an innovative strategic planning framework that will address several priorities that will be key to our future success, including growing our applications and enrollment, identifying and creating distinctive student programs and experiences, and planning for a comprehensive fundraising campaign, among others.

I have also been working hard on building a highly collaborative and experienced senior leadership team to help develop and carry out our shared vision for the future. Over the last several months, we welcomed to campus Vice President for Student Development MarQuita Barker and Vice President for Advancement Monica Keith; moved oversight of our information technology function under Vice President for Communications and Information Technology Services Lisa Van Riper; created a position fo cused primarily on strategic initiatives held by Vice President for Strategic Initiatives Heather Bumps; and we are currently in the midst of a national search for a new vice president for administration and chief financial officer.

And while the trustees, senior team, and I have been planning for the future, we have also been working through the continuing challenges caused by the

“I have been focused on listening and learning— hearing where people are coming from, and ensuring I understand the various differences in perspectives.”

Camille and Andy McGadney

KENT KRIEGSHAUSER

pandemic. Knox has a great team of committed faculty and staff who are constantly collaborating on new and creative ways to continue to offer the unique Knox experience during the pandemic. The Knox campus community is learning to be nimble and flexible—characteristics not usually attributed to institutions of higher education. Our faculty and staff—and especially our students—continue to impress me with their resilience.

What do you see as the areas of greatest opportunity to move Knox forward?

The areas that surfaced most often during my listening and learning efforts are priorities that will be addressed in the strategic framework I just mentioned. These priorities include a focus on increasing admission and enrollment, elevating Knox’s reputation and expanding its reach, and identifying and creating distinctive student programs and experiences. I also see our people as one of our greatest opportunities. Our on-campus community, as well as our thousands of alumni, parents, and friends are extremely passionate about Knox. Whether parents of an incoming student, an employee who has worked in dining services for decades, or an alumna who graduated 50 years ago, the passion for Knox is sincere. I want to ensure that I am bringing our community together with a shared sense of pride and aspiration for what Knox can be for future generations.

The College’s place and responsibil ity within the Galesburg community is another opportunity I’m excited to begin addressing. Knox and Galesburg have been dependent on each other since our founding and that is still true today. There have been many successes over the last decade in Galesburg, and I’m committed to continuing to find new ways to partner with the local community. There is a lot of energy around what is possible in the future in Galesburg and we are committed to being an active partner in creating that future.

What can our community expect from you next?

Delivering results as I move forward with bold goals and strategic priorities,

and a consistent, relentless focus on moving Knox forward. I will continue to listen and engage in meaningful conversations with students, alumni and community members.

What is one of the greatest lessons that you have learned from your mentors that you can share with our readers?

The little things aren’t little. Pay close attention and think through the impact everyday decisions and actions have on others. This is one of the areas where my own liberal arts education continues to serve me well. I try to look at every decision and issue from many different perspectives and understand the impact on others.

“I want to ensure that I am bringing our community together with a shared sense of pride and aspiration for what Knox can be for future generations.”

Kyle, Camille, Naomi, Andy, and Max McGadney

SÉAN ALONZO

HARRIS PHOTOGRAPHY

REFLECTIONS ON RURAL

BY MAEVE REILLY

In March 1971, a group of idealistic Knox College students and two hardworking professors headed to the driftless region of Wisconsin for Farm Term, one of Knox’s first immersive learning experiences—similar to the current Green Oaks Term. The Knox professors wanted the students to appreciate how farms form the backbone of the nation, and, along the way, educate them about impending ecological changes.

Farm Term was a life-changing experience for those involved. This past July, 11 of the 15 original student participants gathered for a 50th reunion of Farm Term on the Robin Metz Farm in Crawford County, Wisconsin, while two others joined virtually. They shared stories, laughs, and many warm memories. Here are some of their stories.

Imagining a “Satellite Curriculum”

The 1960s and early 1970s brought rapid societal changes, but, at the time, some recently hired Knox faculty members felt that the College was stuck in an earlier decade.

“Younger faculty wanted to make trouble,” recalled Doug Wilson, a recently hired English professor, and currently George A. Lawrence Distin guished Service Professor Emeritus and co-director of the Lincoln Studies Center. “There were a number of restrictive social rules we wanted to change; for example, women had to be in the dorms at eight o’clock in the evening.

“We also wanted to make the cur riculum more interesting, provocative and challenging,” he said. One concept was providing a “satellite curriculum,” a precursor to the immersive experiences that Knox continues to this day.

Wilson and his wife, Sharon, enamored with the driftless region in Crawford County, Wisconsin, had

purchased a farm there. Bypassed by glaciers, the area is geographically and geologically significant, with a rugged landscape bordered by the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers.

Knox colleagues Dewey Moore, professor of geology, and Robin Metz, Philip Sidney Post Professor of English and co-founder of Knox’s Program in Creative Writing, also relished the thought of owning land there, and both purchased property near the Wilsons’ farm. Spurred by the significance of the region, the three colleagues developed Knox’s first immersive experience, creating a satellite program called Farm Term that could educate mostly urban students about rural life through a literal on-the-ground experience.

Knox faculty loved the idea of providing such an experience for students, so Farm Term easily passed the curriculum committee. At least 30 students applied for the program and 15 students were accepted. Soon after, nine women and six men set off for the 10-week term, which ran March

21 through May 26, 1971. Only a couple of the Farm Term students had been on a farm prior to this immersive experience.

While the nine female students lived at the Metz farm, Robin Metz remained at Knox. Male students lived at the Moore farm, where the rest of the Moore family lived, including two of the Moore children, who attended local schools. Farm Term was co-taught by Doug Wilson and Dewey Moore.

Field Trips, Food and Fiber, and a “Mangy” Goat

Every morning, the students met at the Metz Farm. Guest speakers provided their expertise on farming, local history, botany, poetry, and farm life to the students.

County Agent Virgil Buttress gave a talk on “food and fiber,” and a local writer, Pearl Swiggum, talked about the rural community. Organized activities included field trips to various locations, including conservationist Aldo Leopold’s shack near Baraboo,

Wisconsin, and trips to examine geology along the Mississippi with Moore. The students worked on independent projects that focused on the domestic and the natural landscape, varying from identifying edible plants and wool spinning to working with local farmers to milk cows and grade eggs.

Students Marla Rybka Biss ’73 and Sandy Lamprech Heggeness ’73 bought a horse that they cared for and rode around the area; Judy O’Keefe Van der Linden ’73 raised chickens, and Kevin Corrado ’72 raised a “mangy” goat named Billy.

I knew that milk came from cows, but it didn’t occur to me that they had to have a calf first, and they had to have one every year! Kind of embarrassing since I was a biology major. —Marla Rybka Biss ’73

Every Monday morning, we took the same walk for hours all around the farm, so they could see the way the landscape was changing. As summer came on, we saw more flowers and bushes. The world was waking up! That really got through to them. —Doug Wilson

Billy was my goat teacher. Even though Billy had oozing skin because of mange, he was friendly and inquisitive and he certainly brightened my day with his mischievous antics. —Kevin Corrado ’72

I still brag about going to school in the ’70s and getting a science credit in beekeeping! I also remember being allergic to bee stings and how my ankle swelled up so badly that I had to be carried to the outhouse. —Caitrine Curley Callison ’73

My project was to survey animals in the area. I hadn’t taken Dr. (Peter) Schramm’s course on how to trap and stuff animals before I got to Farm Term, so I mainly did it by the book, and they docked me half a credit for that! It was kind of nice because people were on their own to create their own thing, but if you didn’t know what you were doing, it didn’t work quite as well. —Sandy Lamprech Heggeness ’73

The students developed a sense of connection to the land by visiting grounds being cultivated and hearing farmers and government officials describe the business of running a farm; by having students compare natural and cultivated growth in a landscape; and by gaining historical perspective about the settlement of the landscape. —Dewey Moore Dewey’s perspective on being open to the wisdom of farmers has an influence on me to this day. They have a knowledge base that should be respected. Doug and Dewey were really trying to convey to us an openness of thinking. —Mary Mundt Reckase ’73

Rural Life Lessons

Living on a farm for 10 weeks had challenges. The male students, who bunked in a not-well-insulated attic room at the Moore farm, were ferried daily to the Metz farm. Because the farms used septic systems, students showered once a week, and the flush toilet was used sparingly so an outhouse was constructed. Doug’s wife, Sharon, and Dewey’s wife, Ruthie, were a big part of the experience as they did the shopping and cooked meals for the students.

Evening entertainment was strumming guitars and singing around a bonfire. Students could come and go as they pleased on the weekends by walking or hitchhiking. Kevin Corrado bought a bike to ride to the two rural schools that he was researching for his project. Students also had to find their own way to the Friday night dinners at the diner in Ferryville, a nearby town, which gave them more access to locals and also gave Sharon and Ruthie a much needed break.

“

Dewey and I had to do so much. We had so many car breakdowns, especially my car. A mechanic in Ferryville was practically occupied full time keeping us on the road. The logistics part was always a headache and there was always unexpected stuff. It finally dawned on us that we were not only teachers, we were the people making arrangements, the business office, the transportation office, and the health department. We hadn’t imagined all the work that it would be.

—Doug Wilson

At one of the reunions, Dewey mentioned that he and I had a contest over which of us could save the most water and provide the least impact on the septic sys tem by going the longest time without taking a shower. I’m certain it must be true. I don’t know if anyone remembers who won our contest. —Leonard “Lenny” Greene ’72

Doug changed the way I approach students when I became a teacher. One rainy day, I borrowed Doug’s car to conduct interviews with farmers and a couple of the girls came with me. I made a turn on a gravel road, and the car started slipping on a hill. I slammed on the brakes and the car tipped and rolled over. We had visions of the car blowing up. I said, ‘I just totaled this professor’s car.’ When we got back to the farm, Sharon said we were all in shock and made us hot fudge sundaes. Then Doug gave me the keys to the other car and wanted me to drive him to the scene. I said ‘I’m never going to drive again,’ but he came with me. I remember that generosity, trust, and knowledge. Thanks to Doug, I tell kids who are failing, ‘You can do it this time.’

—Jan Novak Dressel ’71

It wasn’t until I was older that I realized what a sacrifice Doug and Dewey had made to give us this experience. And they weren’t much older than the students, but they were a whole lot more mature than us, believe me.

—Marla Rybka Biss ’73

I later spent some time in rural dairy farming communities in New Mexico and Costa Rica, which reminded me a lot of Ferryville. Farm Term made it possible for me to move into a rural community and not experience a lot of culture shock.

—Jane Wolff ’72

Farm Term Schedule

(provided by Marla Biss ’73)

3/21, 3/22 arrive and settle in Tues. 3/25 logistics lecture, Prairie du Chien shopping trip

Thurs. 3/25 drive around Crawford Co.

Fri. 3/26 county agent Virgil Buttress visit (“food & fiber”)

Sat. 3/27 seminar, move hay to Dewey’s farm

Tues. 3/30 geology field trip to Iowa

Fri. 4/2 Mrs. Slayton history seminar

Mon 4/5 a.m. hike

Fri. 4/9 a.m. speaker “I don’t know, I wasn’t listening”

Mon. 4/2 a.m. hike

Wed. 4/14 NFO speakers talk on log cabins. Sort eggs at Emerson’s egg farm Thurs. 4/15 Pearl Swiggum’s farm “tractor ride, sink holes, antiques, flower drying, cookies & cows”

Tues. 4/20 ‘soils’ field trip

Thurs. 4/22 field trip: fossil dump, Santa Gertrudis cattle, Effigy Mounds Nat’l Monument

Fri. 4/23 Nancy Lurie (?) seminar

Sat. 4/4 plant trees at Metz farm Mon. 4/26 plant trees at Dewey’s farm

Fri. 4/30 Sherman Paul talk on Thoreau Mon. 5/3 a.m. hike

Wed. 5/5 soil scientists talk Thurs. 5/6 hike w/ botanist Jeanne Smith

Mon. 5/10 a.m. hike

Tues. 5/11 field trip Aldo Leopold Farm, Devil’s Lake

Thurs. 5/13 cheese factory

Sat. 5/15 hike w/ Dr. Peter Schramm visiting from Knox Mon. 5/17 a.m. hike. Unload 3500 chickens at Emerson’s farm.

Thurs. 5/20 we all gave talks on our projects

Sat. 5/22 open house, neighbors over Sun. 5/23 calf born at Steven’s dairy, cows inseminated

Wed. 5/26 official end date

To have the experience of living on a farm; to study and work with the soil and come to some understanding of its origin and character; to develop a sensitivity to the earth and a sense for man’s relationship to it; to exam ine the consequences of treating na ture as a commodity; to make contact with the people of the rural community and attempt to under stand their situation and outlook; to become familiar with the work of the farmer; to consider the agrarian tra dition in American history; to con sider the history and the significance of the government’s relation to agri culture and to the farmer; to con sider the application of technology to agriculture and its consequences.

From “A Proposal for a Farm Term in the Satellite Curriculum”

Romance on the Farm

Dan Reckase ’72 and Mary Mundt ’73 knew one another through mutual friends on campus, and Mary was interested in getting to know Dan better. At Farm Term they became a couple. They married in 1978 and settled in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, not far from Crawford County.

Farm Term participants:

Steve Axon ’73

Marla Rybka Biss ’73

Karen Claus ’73

Kevin W. Corrado ’72

Caitrine Curley Callison ’73

Jan Novak Dressel ’71

Charles “Chuck” Gardner ’74

Leonard “Lenny” Greene ’73

Sandra Lamprech Heggeness ’73

Kadi Finlayson Meyer ’72

Judy O’Keefe van der Linden ’73

Dan Reckase ’72

Mary Mundt Reckase ’73

Jane Wolff ’72

Richard “Rick” Yerkes ’73

It was about halfway through the term. We were on a field trip to Baraboo and stayed in a cabin at Devil’s Lake overnight. There was a common room in between the cabins that housed the guys and the girls. We were the last two left in the common room, talking and sitting by the fire. —Dan Reckase ’72

Farm Term was a perfect setting for getting to know someone. It was very natural. We spent the day together from breakfast on. It was nice to be given the gift of time. —Mary Mundt Reckase ’73

Developing a Deep Appreciation for the Land and Farmers

The Farm Termers gained a deep appreciation for the land and farmers, though with differing perspectives. Marla Rybka Biss worked in a regulatory role for a pesticide company and respects how pesticides have changed the world for the better. Karen Claus ’73 only eats free-range eggs. Some became vegetarians, others are active gardeners and hikers. A few considered becoming farmers but realized how difficult the work is. Some left Knox, taking time off and transferring to other institutions. The professors were exhausted, and Doug Wilson lost 15 pounds during Farm Term. On the whole, however, the participants agreed that they discovered a lot about the region, farming, one another, and, perhaps most importantly, themselves.

Farm Term was not repeated, though Moore continued to lead field trips in geology around the country every spring. Later, Wilson, Moore, and Rodney Davis, Szold Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of History and co-founder of the Lincoln Studies Center, developed a Great Rivers course, which was also offered as an Elderhostel course. Eventually, Knox created the Green Oaks Term, building on experiences and suggestions for a rural immersion opportunity that is housed closer to the Knox campus.

Life Unplugged

Memories have faded over the years, but the sense of connection that they have with one another has deepened. Mary Mundt Reckase attributes it to the fact that the participants were “self selected” by applying. “Maybe the people who respond to this type of immersive experience just naturally got along and easily fell into having a pleasant time together.” She also believes that the group melded together because they didn’t have distractions like cell phones. “We were each other’s focus, environment, and entertainment. We were unplugged before there was a plug.”

“

I loved this place, the character of the people. When I came home, I worked extra jobs to buy 27 acres that butt up against Dewey Moore’s farm. I thought it was a very special place for me, and I wanted some part of it. —Jan Novak Dressel ’71

As we learned about ecology and nature and the importance of taking care of them and honoring what we’ve got, I realized that this transfers to one’s personal care and wellbeing. I needed to learn to take care of myself too, and the lessons we learned at Farm Term contributed to that. —Kadi Finlayson Meyer ’72

College learning can take place off campus. In fact, it has the potential to be extraordinary learning, introducing new ideas while actually experiencing the subject—seeing, touching, and understanding its scope. — Judy O’Keefe van der Linden ’73

After I became an archaeology professor at Ohio State, I led an archaeological field school that I modeled after Farm Term. We received National Science Foundation funding for projects in Cyprus and Hungary. The areas where we were based are similar in size to Ferryville, and similar to the farmers there; the people are so welcoming. Now some of my students are professors themselves and continue similar field schools, so the Farm Term model lives on. —Richard Yerkes ’73

One late spring day, I took off for the creek and climbed into my favorite silver maple tree. It was a big tree with seven branches springing from the trunk, all newly leafed out in a soft green, making an ideal nesting spot in the middle. I recall being perfectly comfortable, happy, and aware that I was exactly where I wanted to be and did not want for anything be sides what I had at that moment. I thought to myself ‘This is a perfect day and I shall never be happier than I am right now, at this very moment.’ Fifty years later, with my joys over the years that equal that day, I can say I was right that none have exceeded that day. —Sandy Lamprech Heggeness ’73

Farm Term 50 years later

Above: Farm Termers presented the professors with Farm Term Remembered books of memories and certificates from a donation made in their honor to the Mississippi Valley Conservancy. Pictured are Kadi Finlayson Meyer, Dewey Moore, Doug Wilson, and Lenny Greene.

Left: Front Row, left to right: Dan Reckase, Dewey Moore, Doug Wilson, Jan Novak Dressel. Back Row: Mary Mundt Reckase, Rick Yerkes, Kevin Corrado, Jane Wolff, Sandra Lamprech Heggeness, Karen Claus, Judy O’Keefe van der Linden, Lenny Greene, Kadi Finlayson Meyer.

DAN

BARRON

SHELLEY MOORE

BY MATTHEW WHEATON ’10

Baseball was the first sport played on Knox College’s campus, but in the institution’s first 100 years of existence, it’s not the only one that caught students’ attention. “As late as October 1893 and October 1894, Knox sent to the Illinois Inter-Collegiate Oratorical contests not only an orator, but also teams for football, baseball, tennis, and track and field events.”1

hirty-six Knox grads who are in the Knox-Lombard Athletic Hall of Fame (HOF) participated in track and field. The first HOF class was inducted in 1987, and four of the 10 members were listed on track rosters for the College. Many played other sports, as well.

In recent years, Knox track and field athletes have put the College on the map for the program’s strength. In the program’s history, 17 NCAA qualifying performances have taken place, with four athletes garnering All-American status. Most recently, Derrick Jackson ’22 recorded two All-American performances in the 2021 season. Since the program’s inception, there has also been one national champion—Mike Pankey ’89 who claimed the 400-meter dash title in 1989. While the women’s outdoor track and field team is still seeking their first Midwest Conference title, the men’s outdoor track and field team has won the Midwest Conference Championship six times—1922, 1928, 1929, 1937, 1952, and 1987.

In recent years, Knox studentathletes have had a lot of success in men’s and women’s track and field. Jackson will be competing in the 2022 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships. The Miami Gardens, Florida, native is ranked 20th in the nation in the 60-meter dash with a qualifying time of 6.85. Last May, he also took part in the championship, finishing fifth in the 100-meter dash finals and sixth in the 200-meter dash finals.

Wells makes immediate impact

Jackson is convinced he wouldn’t be where he is without Prairie Fire head track and field coach Evander Wells, who was hired in May 2019.

Wells had a successful sprinting career at the University of Tennessee and graduated from that institution in 2010. He was a four-year member of the Vols and a nine-time All-American, as well as an 18-time Southeastern Conference finalist. What he says resonates.

“Coach Wells has played a huge part when it comes to on the track or off the track,” said Jackson, who is also on Knox’s football team. “We put in twice as much work as we usually would have because of what happened with the whole COVID-19 situation. Our

outdoor season was an example of what’s to come with a full season.

“It was a pretty decent season. It was my statement year, but I still feel like I didn’t hit my highest points when I should have. I’m slowly getting better,” Jackson added. “My block starts got better towards the end of the season. I could have been more explosive at the beginning, but we worked every day, and as long as I got a percent better every day that’s all that really mattered.”

Wells sits on Tennessee’s top 10 all-time list in the 60 meter, 100 meter, and 200 meter dashes, and since he’s arrived on Knox’s campus, almost every member of the track and field program has set personal record (PR) times.

“You want to see everyone get better. That’s how you make sure everyone is having a great experience,” Wells said.

“You want to see everyone get better. That’s how you make sure everyone is having a great experience.”

RYAN DONNELL

Evander Wells, Knox’s track and field coach, focuses on form and technique as he guides the Prairie Fire to success.

“Of course, you’re going to have standouts. You’re going to have some athletes win conference and do some great things, but if everyone isn’t getting better, they’re not going to have a great experience.

“We highlight everyone after each meet who has a PR. We just want to make sure everyone gets recognition for what they’re doing. We’re all putting in the same work and it’s great to see it pays off for everyone,” Wells added. “We see a lot of PRs on a regular basis. My first year here, I think

we had 33 athletes and 30 of them ran PRs at some point during the season. 2020 was an interesting year because the first half was cut, but we still had the second half and I think just about everyone had a PR at some point in the season. The vast majority of the team gets PRs in their events and that’s just fun to see.”

Form, technique tweaks help

From the start, Wells has helped Knox’s tracksters improve their form and technique, and with tweaks have come faster times.

“There are always technical parts for every sport and it’s just the technique of running and how can each athlete be more efficient,” Wells said.

“His number one things are form and technique. Without those you can’t run fast,” Jackson said. “Coach Wells has taken this program and done a whole 180, and I say 180 over 360 because if you do a 360 you’re back in the same spot.

“In one week, we had something like 32 PRs. Everybody has gotten better.”

Like Jackson, Lydia Mitchell ’22 and Tyrell Pierce ’24 are multiple sport

athletes at Knox, and the pair agree with his assessment of Wells.

“When I was in high school, I was running a 51 (seconds) in the 400 meter and that was because I didn’t really have a good form, and I didn’t know how to breathe,” said Pierce, a sophomore, who also hits the gridiron for the Prairie Fire. “Coach Wells really taught me how to change my running form, how to breathe and how to be more relaxed. Now, I’m running a 48 (seconds).

“It starts with the mindset,” added the Auburn, Alabama, native. “Coach Wells really helped me focus better and on the small little things that help me become faster in track and field.”

Mitchell, a senior, focuses on the 200 meter and 400 meter when she has her track spikes on. The Maryville, Missouri, native also hits the pitch for Knox’s women’s soccer team. Wells isn’t the only track coach Mitchell’s had while donning Prairie Fire gear, but he’s had the biggest impact on her.

“I ran cross country in high school because soccer and track are the same season, so I chose soccer in high school,” Mitchell said. “Coming in, a lot of my teammates had high school coaches who knew how to run and to sprint properly, and I never had any of that. I had the endurance from soccer, but I didn’t know how to actually run. Coach Wells taught me how to run properly, how to be explosive. It has really helped with my short sprints and my endurance.

“Wells is genuinely invested in us and what we each want to achieve, and he knows my goals aren’t the same as Tyrell’s or Derrick’s,” Mitchell added. “Coach has different goals for all of us and makes plans so we can achieve those things.”

“We highlight everyone after each meet who has a PR. We just want to make sure everyone gets recognition for what they’re doing.”

ROBERT NGUYEN ’21

Kristin Herndon ’23 clears the bar during the 2021 Van Steckelberg Invite.

Room to grow

Knox’s track and field athletes have achieved their goals with Wells’ help, but there’s not much depth. It’s one area Daniella Irle, the College’s director of athletics, and Wells have focused heavily on. Wells has been hitting the recruiting trail hard, as there’s something to say about strength in numbers.

“Numbers is one of the biggest things. We had some conference champs in specific events last year but after that you’ll have someone else with a third, fourth and fifth place finisher, so even though we may have the winner in the event they still outscore us,” Wells said. “We have to have more depth for each event and bring in more athletes who can score points. We have to continue to bring in good athletes and that’s the biggest thing. If we bring in good student-athletes, they’re going to do well. The great thing about Knox

is we’ve got everything here to help our student-athletes get better in what they do. We just have to get that right student-athlete here.”

“We’ve been coming at it from a couple of different angles, quality coaches, equipment, and students,” Irle said. “We feel like we are another class or two from 40 or 60 instead of 20. We want to grow the size of our program, so we have more depth at events. It helps the College and it helps the other talent.”

And what should a prospective Knox student and track athlete know?

“I would tell them that our team is a family, and Coach Wells cares about all of us so much. Just because we have good vibes, it doesn’t mean that we don’t work really really hard. It’s a good environment and you will learn,” Mitchell said. “Wells focuses on those little details that you can learn to make habits that will make you successful.”

Multiple sport athletes help

Since the College was founded, students have participated in multiple sports, and Wells welcomes those individuals with open arms.

“A lot of it naturally happens especially with a new coach coming in—one of the good things to see was Knox has great athletes in other sports as well so I can take someone who plays basketball. They jump a lot and you can do a jumping event and you should do well. In volleyball you jump, so we can put you in a jumping event and you should do well,” he said. “Volleyball is a fall sport. They do get a spring season but it’s relatively short, so if I can have a volleyball player come out and compete in track and field, then hopefully they go back to volleyball a better athlete but in the process they help me as well.

“I think one of the great things about DIII athletics is you can come here and make this your experience,” Wells added. “If you want to do a fall sport, a winter sport and a spring sport, it’s possible. At the Division I level, you’re kind of at the mercy of the program that gives you a scholarship.”

“We have some really good studentathletes in house and they want to participate in track. They feel it is a program on the rise, and it’s fun to be part of a program that is improving and getting better,” Irle said. “They’re all getting faster, learning, and improving, and that is fun.”

Derrick Jackson ’22 recorded two All-American performances in the 2021 season.

STEVE

A Leadership Legacy

Meet Knox’s New Board Chair, Tony Etz

number of different professors. The entire English department was very encouraging, and that’s how I ended up going to the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

I did like the process of being in a workshop and writing, and my experience at Knox prepared me for the education I received at Iowa.”

Tony Etz ’83 grew up with purple and gold running through his veins; he is a fourth generation Knox alumnus. His grandfather, Robert Murphy ’31, was a longtime member and former chair of the Knox Board of Trustees, and his great grandfather was a first-generation college student at Knox, coming from the family farm in Geneseo, Illinois. Tony’s uncle, Jim Murphy ’82, also attended Knox.

“I was very close to my grandfather and saw how he valued the College and what a responsibility his leadership roles were for him. I feel the same,” said Etz. “I always knew how special Knox was, and how deeply my grandfather held the College in his heart. Following one year elsewhere, I was fortunate to transfer to Knox. It was the key that fit my lock. I made a lot of good friends and was able to get involved in a lot of activities, like Union Board and Catch. I didn’t have a clear academic direction when I came to Knox, but I became an English major because I found strong connections among the faculty in that department.”

Following his graduation from Knox, Etz attended the Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa. “At Knox, I had great opportunities to explore leadership. I also appreciated the mentorship I received from (Professor) Robin Metz and a

After earning his M.F.A., Etz moved to New York for a stint working in the film business. He then moved to California to produce television movies and miniseries but wanted a career change. He landed at Creative Artists Agency (CAA) as an agent and has had a successful career there for the past 27 years, representing talent and packaging television shows. He also teaches media classes as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California.

What do you look most forward to during your tenure as Board chair?

Without any question, the partnership I am developing with Andy McGadney, the new president of Knox. We have worked together since we both officially started our new roles in July, and I have become increasingly excited by the opportunity his presidency offers us. I am fully convinced we made the right choice for a president, and look forward to helping Andy realize the full potential of Knox College.

In what areas would you like to see Knox progress during your time as Board chair?

We have a great Board, and a great group of people on the Board. Now, we have to do more to diversify our Board, not only in terms of ethnic or gender representation, but also in terms of economics and non-graduates of the college. We would benefit from more diversity of viewpoints across the entire spectrum, and we have to try to enhance this diversity quickly.

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The trustees have created a subcommittee that is going to take a very hard look at these issues. They are already work ing, and our goal is to have some recommendations within the first few months of 2022.

What do you believe is Knox’s greatest challenge right now? Greatest opportunity?

Our greatest opportunity rests in what already exists at the College. We have truly exceptional faculty who are dedicated to their students and to teaching. We have fantastic staff who really care about the College. Everyone deeply cares about the students. Starting with this foundation gives the College a huge advantage as we go forward.

Our biggest challenge is going to be the pace at which we accept change. Every college in the United States is confronting the question of how they are going to evolve. The institutions that are going to succeed are the ones that are willing to truly change, and at a pace unusual for higher education. As a community, we have to be willing to lean in to change. I like the John Wooden quote, “Be quick, but don’t hurry.” That’s how we need to think about our pace of change.

What do you see as the essential elements that you bring to your Board leadership?

I grew up valuing Knox and understanding what it meant to the students, as well as the entire Knox and Galesburg communities. I experienced firsthand as a Knox student why my grandfather was so excited about his alma mater. That strong connection is what I bring to my role; I have a genuine respect and appreciation for the faculty and staff, and I love the way that the mission of the College has remained constant as our student body has evolved. We have so many first-generation students now, we are so much more diverse in all the ways that are great—I feel we are as aligned to the core mission of the College as we’ve ever been.

The ’Burg

Knox Professor Elected Mayor of Galesburg

Ten years and a day after first being sworn in as a member of the Galesburg City Council, Professor of Environmental Studies Peter Schwartzman took the oath of office as Galesburg mayor on May 3, 2021.

Schwartzman defeated two other candidates to win a four-year term as mayor in the April 2021 election. He previously served as the Ward 5 representative on the City Council, winning elections in 2011, 2015, and 2019. A member of the Knox faculty since 1998, Schwartzman has a long track record of community involvement and has participated in numerous organizations, including Knox Prairie Community Kitchen and the Galesburg Youth Athletic Club.

In Galesburg, the mayor serves part time. Schwartzman plans to continue teaching at Knox.

Asked to describe his vision for the community, Schwartzman noted that Galesburg is a city with a rich history and many ambitious, community-oriented residents. “As with most cities in the United States, Galesburg has suffered economic hardship in part due to globalization and inequitable policies at higher levels of government,” he said. “I believe the people living in Galesburg want better for themselves and their neigh bors. They want to make our city safe and prosperous in the years to come. I plan to empower people to do this work. The creative minds and generous hearts of Gales burg’s residents will rise to the occasion and bring about positive change, working assiduously and collectively.

“I have said for a long time, ‘We can make Galesburg the best city in the world … we just have to want to.’ I am glad the voters chose the possibility of a promising future for all. I am so fortunate to be able to serve them and contribute to the city’s betterment, one day at a time.”

CARLA WEHMEYER

Knox Promotes Seven Faculty Members

Seven members of the Knox faculty received promotions last June: Mitchell Parks received tenure and was promoted to associate professor, and Jennifer Smith, Katherine Adelsberger, Emily Anderson, Toni Prado, Jim Thrall, and Emre Sencer were promoted to full professors. We asked them to talk about their current research interests, recent adaptations to remote teaching, and their potential careers in alternate universes. Here’s what they had to say.

To read the full interviews, visit magazine.knox.edu.

Associate Professor of Classics Mitchell Parks

Mitchell earned his doctorate from Brown University and his bachelor’s degree from Grinnell College. His research focuses on the literature of fourth-century BCE Athens, the time period when Athenian democratic institutions were the most elaborate and pervasive. The idea of reading texts in dialogue with each other permeates every class Mitchell teaches, especially his course The Classical World of Harry Potter, which puts the Harry Potter novels into conversation with several ancient texts and uses that conversation to ask the big questions “Is Harry Potter a classic?” and “What is a classic, anyway?” and “Is considering something a classic ultimately good or bad for society?”

If you weren't a professor, what would you be? I have this theory that most humanities professors secretly think that they could have (or even should have!) been lawyers, and the same is true for me: I care deeply about careful reading and the minute distinctions language makes possible, and law also has a great potential for promoting social good. But ultimately I prefer helping students develop their own thinking about language and social justice as my professional contribution to making the world a better place.

Professor and Chair of Environmental Studies; Douglas and Maria Bayer Endowed Chair in Earth Science Katherine Adelsberger

Katherine got her doctorate from Washington University in St. Louis and her bachelor’s degree from Beloit College. She co-directs an archaeologi cal project in Jordan; she is usually there during the summer and brings back materials for analysis at Knox. She has also analyzed soil composition at Green Oaks, and, this past summer, she worked with a research group to develop some methodologies for investigating microplastics in our local waterways.

How does your current research impact your teaching? Research is teaching, it’s just one-on-one or in small groups instead of in a classroom. I think this is the Knox ideal, that our students are also doing original research and collaborating with faculty on that process. In some of these contexts I’m more of a teacher, such as in Jordan at our field school, but in some contexts, particularly with local projects, students really take on their own portion of a larger question and I serve more as a guide than an instructor.

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Professor of English and Chair of Film Studies Emily Anderson

Emily is currently finishing an article on the TV show Black Mirror and its relationship to the viewer. She earned her doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, her master’s degree from Mills College, and her bachelor’s degree from Willamette University. In 2007, Knox College recognized her with the Philip Green Wright-Lombard College Prize for Distinguished Teaching, and she has published work such as “Telling Stories: Unreliable Discourse, Fight Club, and the Cinematic Narrator” in Journal of Narrative Theory and “‘I Will Unfold a Tale-!’: Ontology, Epistemology, and Caleb Williams” in Eighteenth-Century Fiction

What is your most memorable moment at Knox? My most recent memorable moment was learning that I got promoted. I was at an Honor’s dinner with a student and some other faculty members, and President Amott and Provost Schneider happened to be at the same restaurant. They came over to my table to give me the news and to congratulate me. I immediately excused myself, with apologies to the student, and went outside to call my friends and family. I love that such fortuitous things can happen here!

Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures (Spanish) Antonio Prado del Santo

Toni earned his doctorate, master’s, and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Illinois. He is currently researching the legacy of the people who went into exile during the Spanish Civil War and planted roots in France. The Spanish Civil War and the influence of anarchist philosophy in Spanish life has been his main research topic. He also designed a travel course around these topics and led a group to Spain in 2014. Toni is also a member of both the Modern Language Association and the Society for Cinema and Media Studies.

What is your favorite thing about Galesburg? It has changed over time. I very much enjoyed raising my children here because of its humane scale, and, now that they are both adults, my favorite thing is to enjoy life outdoors, be it going downtown, taking walks in my neighborhood, or hiking in parks, like Lake Storey or Blackthorn Hill Nature Preserve. Through the pandemic, it has been such a calming feature of Galesburg living for me.

Knight Distinguished Professor for the Study of Religion & Culture James Thrall

Jim is currently working on a textbook for courses in Religion and Science Fiction, as well as on two articles related to that topic. His research has a direct connection to the Religion and Science Fiction course he teaches every few years and also feeds into his more general interest in connections between religion and popular culture. He earned his doctorate from Duke University and his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Yale University Divinity School and Colby College respectively.

How did the restraints of the pandemic encourage growth for you as a person and as a professor? I spent the past year teaching remotely from my home in North Carolina, in part because it made it possible for my wife and me to bring my elderly father to live with us. Including him in our household, especially given the other restraints of the pandemic, introduced quite a number of changes to our routines that required learning new modes of adapting. Also, shifting so entirely to an online engagement with Knox required rethinking my assumed approaches to doing almost everything.

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EVAN

Professor and Chair of Dance Jennifer Smith

At Knox since 1997, Jennifer earned her master’s of fine arts from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and both her master of arts and bachelor’s degrees from Columbia College. Her current research is on Dance in the African Diaspora, specifically, focused on examining the cultural and artistic history of New Orleans and the role this city has played in the development of American vernacular dance forms. She has been honored with numerous awards such as the Philip Green Wright-Lombard College Prize for Distinguished Teach ing in 2003, and she was named one of “30 Young Show-Stoppers under 30” by the Chicago Tribune in 1999.

What is your most memorable moment at Knox? I don’t think I can pick just one. I would rather talk about my most favorite time of the year, which is when I get to produce the spring dance concert. Seriously, with each and every concert I am in awe of what my dance students present on stage, both as performers and as choreographers. When I look at the development of the dance program over the years and see how each con cert grew in size and caliber, I feel truly blessed to have the job that I do!

Professor of History Emre Sencer

A native of Istanbul, Turkey, Emre has been at Knox since 2008. He received his Ph.D. in history from Ohio State University. He is a specialist in modern European history, particularly the 19th and 20th century in Germany and Central Europe. He teaches courses on the modern Middle East and Turkey. For the last few years, he has been expanding his research area to East Central Europe during the First World War and immediately after. A result of that was a volume titled Central Powers in Russia’s Great War and Revolution, co-edited with John Deak and Heather Perry. Another recent volume was the product of a series of conferences held at Knox, titled Expeditionary Forces in the First World War, co-edited with Alan Beyerchen. Along with his Knox colleague Todd Heidt, associate professor of modern languagesGerman, and Claudia Kost, he coauthored a German cultural history reader, Ekstase und Elend

What is your most memorable moment at Knox? A few years ago a group of graduating seniors produced a bingo game board, based on my comments and quirks in the classroom. I was very touched that they took the time to present that as a parting gift. I considered that the greatest accolade!

Knox Donors C

Ups, downs, and uncertainties were hallmarks of Knox’s 2021 fiscal year, and yet at least one thing remained constant: the Knox community’s steadfast commitment to support the College and our students. The College is profoundly grateful.

• Over 6,600 alumni, parents, faculty, staff, students, and friends donated $11.5 million to Knox from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, including $5.3 million in current operating gifts, of which $270,000 was for the COVID-19 Relief Fund that provided our students and the College with emergency funds during this pivotal time.

• In addition, over $4 million in gifts continued to grow the Knox endowment, which surpassed $200 million last spring. These gifts allowed Knox to finish fundraising for phase one of a contemporary re-envisioning of the Umbeck Science-Mathematics Center. Gifts to the science center renovation honored the decadelong tenure of Teresa Amott as Knox’s 19th president. She retired June 30, 2021. Knox also made enhancements to the Prairie Fire soccer, baseball, and softball venues—with new scoreboards installed for each team.

• Supporters of Knox made the College’s third annual #KnoxProud Day a resounding success as 3,509 donors gave nearly $1.8 million in less than 24 hours. Those results far exceeded the goal of 2,867 donors, representing the number of graduates during President

PETER

PETER

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ontinue Legacy of Success

Amott’s years at Knox. The decades of the 1990s and 2000s had the largest increases in participation among all the competing decades of graduates. Over 380 attendees participated in at least one of the 22 virtual events that day.

• “If there is one commonality regarding why donors give back to Knox, it is because of how Knox changed their lives, and that legacy continues today,” said former Vice President for Advancement Beverly Holmes. “Students continue to come to Knox from across the nation and the world, driven by curiosity, engaged by big questions, and looking for their way to make their community and world a better place. Knox continues to be the place for them, and it changes their lives. Giving to Knox makes it all possible.”

Hart receives White Creative Writing Prize

Marin Hart ’24 received the Beverly K. White and Friends Prize in Creative Writing in May 2021. The prize goes to an outstanding piece of creative writing from a beginning writer. Marin, from Houston, Texas, is majoring in gender and women’s studies and minoring in creative writing. They attended an arts high school where their focus was creative writing, and are grateful to now be a part of Knox’s writing community, which challenges them as a writer and person. Hart is also a Dare to Care Peer Educator and an executive member of the LGBTQ+ organization Common Ground.

Class of 2020 after Jon Pineda

By Marin Hart ’24

Professor asks what was it like to miss your high school graduation?

I say, for a day, I was a hunk of melted change, a pot of blood boiling on the stove.

On other days, I wrote letters, first on my computer, then on paper so I would have a copy saved. As a child, I carried every stuffed animal, every baby doll to the grocery store. The elegy inside me has always wanted to keep everything. Everyone dealt with their grief silently. I gave a speech to empty auditorium chairs.

DEBORAH

The South Lawn COMMENCEMENT 2020

Sixteen months past the original date, the class of 2020 finally had Knox’s 175th Commencement exercises on October 10, 2021. The previous summer, the 275 nowgraduated seniors had a virtual graduation. Many of the graduates found the ceremony to be an official marking of their success and are happy that their families and friends could participate with them in person.

Nyerere Billups ’99 delivered the Commencement address. Billups is the director of portfolio program management operations for AbbVie, Inc. “This moment, the gravity of it, it’s with me as the same time I sat where you sat,” said Billups. “I’ve been dealing with adversity since I arrived on February 12, 1977. But I’m here to tell you today that life isn’t what happens to you, it’s how you respond to the things that happen in life.”

“Knox was far from a perfect campus, but it was the first place that I ever felt like everyone made an honest effort to be good to each other,” said senior class speaker, Kylie Linh Hoang ’20.“My hope for the class is that we take these experiences and we use them to bring good to all of the new communities we join and build.”

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CARLA

Tianna Cervantez ’06, executive director for diversity, equity, and inclusion and director of intercultural life, concluded the ceremony. “I am inspired. Inspired by you and all the awesome life-changing work I know you are prepared to do in this world,” she said.

COMMENCEMENT 2021

On June 5, 2021, 227 graduating seniors received their bachelor of arts and bachelor of science degrees during Knox’s 176th Commencement exercises.

The graduates were addressed by speakers including Dr. Ngozi O. Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, and former Knox College President Teresa Amott.

Dr. Ezike referred to a statement from actor Brianne James, “I am my ancestors’ wildest dreams” and added: “I can’t think of a better line to capture the spirit of this graduating class, where more than 35 percent of you are firstgeneration college graduates, 40 percent are people of color, and some of you are a testimony to the power of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy.”

Another speaker was President Teresa Amott, who left Knox after serving as president for 10 years.

“It has been the privilege of a lifetime to lead this institution during this difficult year,” she said. “I am so very proud of all we have done together during this time.

“Class of 2021, the care of this historic College, and of this planet, now passes into your hands. You will write the next chapter of our storied College’s history. Congratulations to you all.”

PHOTOS BY PETER BAILLEY ’74, ROBERT NGUYEN ’21, STEVE DAVIS

The South Lawn

Experience Working in Knox’s Seymour Library Led Matrice Young ’21 to Pursue MLIS

Matrice Young ’21 worked at Seymour Library as an undergrad: an experience that was pivotal in her decision to study for a master’s of library and information science (MLIS) at the University of Iowa School of Library and Information Science.

Why did you choose to pursue your master’s in library science?

At Knox, I worked as a circulation assistant, and I worked on projects like digitizing photos, copy cataloging, and assisting librarians on some of their research. I didn’t know the MLIS was a possibility until I got to Knox and spoke to the librarians. I knew I wanted to help people and I saw that the librarians did a lot of that.

How did Knox prepare you for this career?

I majored in creative writing and minored in educational studies and Africana studies at Knox. I did a research project in special collections, looking at authors who had gone to Knox, or were from Galesburg or the Midwest. It was interesting to see how much history we have that most people don’t even know exists.

For my independent study project, I made a resource guide, a way to organize and showcase library resources available to faculty and students for education, research, and study. I wanted to figure out how to get more creative writing and English majors into the archives. I tried to find people from marginalized groups—all the women I could find and a few marginalized people, including a Native American man and a deaf man. I wanted to make these histories more available for other people.

What do you see yourself doing in the future?

I want to go into curation or collection development, work as a community archivist, or work in special collections and archives in a public library. I’m interested in how we make an academic library and special collections more accessible for a wider range of audiences. The collections are not just for academic communities, they are for the local communities as well. It’s not just the college’s history, it’s everyone’s history.

What’s Next for of 2021?

Equipped with their Knox College diplomas, members of the Class of 2021 are launching careers, entering graduate school, planning international travels, and embarking on other adventures.

Here’s a recap of what some of Knox’s newest alumni are doing: Mariah Boltz majored in integrative business and management with a focus in human relations, and she is now working in Denver, Colorado, as a talent sourcer for Sage Hospitality Group, a management company for hotels and restaurants throughout the United States. “Knox provided me with the support and opportunities I needed to increase my knowledge and experience,” she says.

Ben Farquer, an elementary education major, is a K-4 reading teacher at Mable Woolsey Elementary School in Knoxville, Illinois. “Knox prepared me for this position in ways that I never real ized,” he says. “The culture of the community on campus prepared me to deal with difficult situations and communicate with students, teachers, and parents. The Ed Studies program prepared me for the nitty gritty of being a teacher.”

Bishakha Upadhyaya, who majored in computer science, is working as a software engineer for Bank of America in Charlotte, North Carolina.

PETER

The South Lawn

The Class

Oluwabamise (Bamise) Afolabi has started a job as a medical scribe for ScribeAmerica in Davenport, Iowa, and he also plans to apply to medical school. He majored in biology.

Matrice Marie Young, a creative writing major, is attending the University of Iowa’s master’s program for library and information science and is considering a career as a research librarian.

Sarah Lohmann has been accepted to CIEE’s Teach Abroad Program in South Korea, and she starts teaching there in 2022. Down the road, she plans to attend graduate school to earn an M.F.A. in literary translation. She majored in Asian studies and creative writing.

Ikenna Ozor, a biology major, is pursuing a master’s degree in biology at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs.

Elliot Bainbridge, an economics major, is seeking a master’s degree in finance from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.

Lily Lauver, who majored in creative writing and English literature, was one of 12 fellows in the Bucknell Seminar for Undergraduate Poets during the summer. Starting in the fall, she’ll work in Knox’s letterpress studio as a post-baccalaureate fellow. She also plans to apply to graduate school to seek an M.F.A. in poetry.

Monica M. Keith is New Vice President for Advancement

Monica M. Keith, an advancement leader with more than 20 years of higher education experience and a deep knowledge of advancement fundraising operations, recently started in her role as the new vice president for advancement at Knox. Monica’s career spans highly ranked liberal arts institutions of all sizes with varying financial resources.

“Monica will be a strategic, innovative and highly collaborative advancement leader for Knox College,” said Knox President Andy McGadney. “I am confident that our alumni and all other members of the campus community will appreciate her talent, intelligence, skill, and advancement leadership experience at highly ranked liberal arts institutions.”

A native of New York, Keith earned her B.A. in economics and M.B.A. in marketing from the University of Albany in Albany, New York. Previously, she was executive director of advance ment operations and prospect development at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, where she oversaw strategic planning, budget management, operations and report ing, division training, data analysis, technology, management of alumni, donor, and gift records, and process and prospect development.

Prior to Skidmore, Keith was director of advancement operations at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, where she was responsible for strategic planning, campaign budgeting, planning and operations, and staff on-boarding, training, communications, and talent development. She was also director of advancement operations at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, and held advancement leadership roles at Siena College in Loudonville, New York, Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont, and Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont.

Keith is a member of the Association of Advancement Services Profession als (AASP), and was co-chair of the Advancement Management Best Practice subcommittee, on which she currently serves. In addition, she is a member of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

“The mission and values of Knox College are evident—and inspiring— through sustained and loyal philanthropic support, talented and passionate faculty and staff, and an engaged Galesburg community,” said Keith. “I am excited to join Knox and partner with colleagues, alumni, parents, and friends of the College to move Knox forward to an even brighter and more prosperous future.”

Knox Community Booms with Summer Research

While some college students spend their summers relaxing by the pool or at the beach, a number of Knox students conduct scientific research or work on creative projects during the summer months; many often work with faculty on specific projects in the faculty member’s field of study.

While Daniel Bien didn’t spend his summer at the beach, he did get his feet wet working with Katie Adelsberger, professor of environmental studies, on a project that focused on microplastics pollution in area water supplies. “I worked on the sediment side of microplastic recovery,” said Bien ’22, a major in environmental studies and political science. “I had to develop a proper field collection process that involved using a small shovel trawl,” Bien continued. “So essentially, some of my sediment collection had bits of water and was a very muddy sample which was then dried in the lab process.”

Microplastic pollution is an increasing concern in water ecosystems. Sampling methods for microplastics in water and sediment are just starting to become standardized. Participants working with Adelsberger learned about testing for microplastic pollution by using lab filtration and field

sampling methodologies. Along with Adelsberger, they plan to develop a standard protocol for future research in Knox County.

For almost two weeks, the students conducted a literature review to find out about the pollutants and plan how to do microplastic collection and lab work. After they familiarized them selves with the content, the students waded into nearby streams and lakes to gather the samples.

Lemon Marshmallow ’24, who has yet to decide on a major, also worked on Adelsberger’s project. “This project showed me what it would be like to be in a career field like this,” they said. “It demonstrated how much I truly love science, and fueled my excitement to take as many science courses as I can during my time at Knox.”

Other students immersed themselves in local history in Abingdon, Illinois. Cate Denial, Bright Distinguished Professor of American History and chair of the History department, introduced her students to the process of cataloging collections at the Abingdon Historical Museum.

“On a typical day, I would write down detailed descriptions of ceramics or books,” said Jazzie Lerner ’22. “I explored the history of a small town

and got some insight into how the people of Abingdon worked together at various times. I realized how much people, regardless of when they lived, have similar worries about their families and the world since I literally held their journals in my hands.”

“A lot of students are interested in public history work,” said Denial, “which are acts of historical interpreta tion that occur outside a purely academic setting such as at national parks, monuments, museums, archives, and libraries. The opportunity to work in Abingdon offers students a new way to get hands-on experience in public history.”

OBSERVATORY TELESCOPE EDITION

8.9lightbillion years

distance to the most distanced object image, the Double Quasar

Light gathering power 2906 times that of the average human eye

17”

Go Figure diameter of the telescope

WEHMEYER

Professor Cate Denial, Caleb Baird ’24 and CJ Johnson ’22 examine exhibits at the Abingdon Historical Museum.

The South Lawn

Students Lemon Marshmallow ’24 and Juan Ramirez ’22 collect samples from the Spoon River beneath the Wolf Covered Bridge in Knox County.

130+

lampshades installed on campus streetlights to reduce light pollution

telescope nominal field of view

Doug ’66 & Maria Bayer, Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation, Cyril “Bill” Butts, Mark & Jeannette Kleine, the G. L. Vitale Family Foundation, Galesburg Community Foundation, James & Pamela Wyman, and Valerie Blevins ’86 & John Anderson are generous donors who provided support for the Ellen Browning Scripps/Wayne Green Dome and telescope.

Knox College “Abolition for All Time” Humanities Lab to be Funded by Mellon Grant

engagement with materials in the College’s archives and special collections while cultivating the skills for assessing them; and projects that explore “abolitionism” in the 21st century, which will seek new ways to inspire student engagement with civic issues using humanities methodologies to pursue social justice aims.

In 2018, the College revamped its general curriculum to include its first civic engagement requirement. The lab will serve as a new vehicle for civic engagement conversations across the humanities. The proposal states that it will “promote sharing of methodologies and interdisciplinary perspectives on civic engagement. It can thus help reinvigorate the course development and approval process to align with social justice priorities articulated for the curriculum as a whole.”

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded Knox College a grant of $1.2 million to fund projects ranging from archival-based research courses to experiential learning opportunities—all with the purpose of understanding historical and contemporary social justice issues. The projects will focus on “abolition” as both a legacy of the College and a lens to understand its future.

The Abolition Lab projects will be led by a team of seven faculty members and managed by the Associate Dean for Faculty Development Danielle Fatkin. Seymour Library, the Vovis Center for Research and Advanced Study, and the Kleine Center for Community Service will collaborate with the lab. Funding supports experimentation with new courses and programs while also supporting faculty mentorship of student independent study and capstone projects related to the lab.

Faculty and staff will explore a wide variety of projects under the Abolition Lab umbrella. These projects fall into two categories: projects with a strong focus on the College’s founding and history to encourage renewed student

Knox grew out of early 19th century anti-slavery activism. A group of abolitionists constructed a new town anchored by a college, grounding their principled opposition to slavery in an ethos of manual work as essential to intellectual achievement. “Knox graduated one of the first Black students in Illinois, Barnabas Root, and the first Black U.S. Senator, Hiram Revels, was also educated at Knox. Knox graduates populated the ranks of teachers in ‘freedmen’s schools’ across the Reconstruction-era South,” wrote Provost and Dean of the College Michael A. Schneider in the grant proposal.

In recent years, the College has had among the most diverse student bodies in the Midwest; in 2020, nearly 40 percent of its U.S. students were students of color.

Schneider observes, “Our work under the grant will challenge us to question how faithfully we have pursued the activism of our founders and, more importantly, what should be the focus of our educational mission, in light of that activist legacy, today and in the future.”

The Abolition Lab will support multiple projects over a three year period, and develop innovative courses and educational opportunities that will have an impact on the curriculum for many years.

CARLA WEHMEYER

The South Lawn

Dr. MarQuita Barker is New Vice President for Student Development

MarQuita D. Barker, Ed.D., a highly accomplished educational professional with a track record of developing high-impact programs and services to advance student learning, development, and success, is the new Knox College vice president for student development. She started in her new role in January 2022.

A native of Virginia, Barker earned her B.S. in communications and M.S. in higher education administration from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. She also earned her M.B.A. from Elon University in Elon, North Carolina, and her Ed.D. in leadership and learning in organizations from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Barker wrote her doctoral research on “Residential Colleges and Their Impact on Students’ Sense of Belonging.” Prior to joining Knox, she was assistant dean of campus life/director of residence life at Elon, a highly ranked private liberal arts institution with a strong commitment to experiential learning and global engagement.

“MarQuita will be an innovative, inclusive, and engaging leader for the student development division at Knox College,” said Knox President Andy McGadney. “I am absolutely delighted that she has chosen Knox as the best institution for her to continue her already successful career and am confident that our students and all other members of the campus community will appreciate her talent and skill as much as I already do.”

In her role at Elon, Barker led the university’s academic-residential partnerships to create a premier student residential experience. She managed and strategically planned all aspects of an extensive program of residence life functions for 4,100 students, facilitated the transition from on- to off-campus living, and directed the recruitment and development of a diverse staff of more than 160. She developed nationally recognized student-centered programs, conferences, and learning communities, in addition to other university-wide residential campus initiatives that have positively impacted students at Elon. Previously, Barker was senior associate director of residence life, associate director of residence life operations, and assis tant director in the office of residence life and the multicultural center at Elon.

“The opportunity to lead student development for Knox was irresistible, given the mission of the College and the talented people leading, teaching, and learning at the College,” said Barker. “I am already enjoying working across the campus community to support moving Knox forward and ensuring that the student development division is serving Knox students as effectively as possible.”

Sparks

“A liberal arts education gives you to problem solve.”

Cecilia Pinto ’81, talking about how her Knox experiences prepared her for the worlds of publishing and teaching. Her novella, Imagine the Dog, won the 2020 Clay Reynolds Novella Prize

“This degree, this ceremony is proof that we can make it, that our families can make it and have made it, through us. As

THE TOOLS FIRST-GENERATION

students we carry so much on our backs: hopes and dreams, aspirations of our families and ancestors.”

Matrice Marie Young ’21, the featured student speaker at Knox College’s First Generation Reception for members of the Class of 2021

“You rock,

JOE DIVENEY.”

Knox staff member Debra DeCrane ’98 on Facebook, commenting on a post describing how Diveney, a network manager in Information Technology Services, found a long-lost class ring and returned it to the owner, Eric Miller ’02

“Last year was all online, so just to

BE HERE

and to be present with everyone. It’s a great time so far, and there is so much more to come.”

J.J. Silander ’23 when asked about his favorite part of Flunk Day in May

I am Knox — Derrick Jackson ’22

Vitals

Hometown: Miami, Florida

Major: Education

Minor: Psychology Campus Involvements: Football, Track & Field

Three Facts about Derrick

Favorite food from the Gizmo menu: An egg and sausage croissant sunny side up.

His favorite artists to listen to before a football game or track meet are G Herbo and Lil Durk.

A fun fact about his hometown: The name “Miami” comes from a native tribe, the Mayami people who lived in the area at the time of European colonization.

What made you choose Knox College?

I chose Knox because of Track and Field Coach Evander Wells. He also mentioned the community and alumni and how supportive and welcoming they are.

What’s it like being a two-sport athlete? What are the similarities and differences in your experiences with football and track & field?

Being a two-sport athlete can be complicated, but fun at the same time. Both of my coaches care about me outside of sports. The differences between the sports are simple: with track, I am always running, but in football, I am always running away from someone.

What is one piece of advice you would give to an incoming student athlete at Knox?

Be sure to do everything you can to manage your time wisely.

What career will you pursue when you graduate?

My career goal is to work with kids who have mental health issues.

What have you learned from your experience at Knox that can help you after college?

I learned how to be more social at Knox, practice great time management, and to never give up. One of my professors told me, “If you’re not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.”

CARLA WEHMEYER

The South Lawn

Knox College Awarded $248,000 Grant for Revitalization of Immersive Cultural and Language Study

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded Knox College a $248,000 grant to expand students’ opportunities through the immediate creation of humanities-based immersive domestic study programs.

Each program will consist of a two- to four-week immersive, intercultural and, in many cases, interlingual course for students in summer 2022. These new domestic programs represent a reorientation of the study abroad and cross-cultural educational opportunities, which have been hit hard because of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Provost and Dean of the College Michael A. Schneider is the grant project administrator of the NEH-funded project, titled “Local Contexts, Global Connections: Revitalizing Immersive Cultural and Language Study at Home.”

“The purpose of the project is to infuse the value of study abroad into domestic immersive experiences,” said Schneider. “Because of the support from the grant, we’re able to experiment with entirely new ideas and programs and consider their value for study abroad in the future.”

In the grant proposal, Schneider noted that the decline of travel—especially international travel—during the pandemic “has dealt a stunning blow to higher education.”

“This impact has been felt perhaps most acutely in humanities education,” Schneider noted. “In addition to the loss of in-person experiences in theatre, music, and literature, nearly all fields highly dependent on language study, cross-cultural engagement, and international and area studies—all hallmarks of the Knox education—have suffered disproportionately.”

Knox faculty will be deeply involved with “Local Contexts, Global Connections.” The projects reflect faculty members’ “ongoing engagement and expertise around the nature of our simultaneously local and global communities in the 21st century,” the proposal stated. “Their talents will be redeployed to confront the consequences of the pandemic for our students while providing direct encounters with these issues.”

One set of projects will engage directly with immigrant communities in the Galesburg area, while another will help students explore the meaning and consequences of diversity itself, and a third will engage students conceptually to wrestle with issues of participation and representation in U.S. society. Additional details are expected to be announced soon.

Swanson’s Debut Novel Focuses on WWII Sacrifices

Philip Zumwalt is an accomplished musician, poet, and idealist—a dreamer. Fresh out of college in 1940, he takes a job as a music teacher in a small, rural Illinois town. His plan is to teach for a few years hoping to save enough money to finance his dreams: go to Chicago to become a professional musician and get his pilot’s license. These dreams dominate his thoughts until one summer night when he meets Elinor Robinson.

Based upon the World War II diaries of the real Philip Zumwalt, this debut novel by Barry Swanson is a bittersweet tale of the transcendent power of love and reminds us of the immense sacrifices made by the men and women of that era.

Your novel is based on the World War II diaries of Philip Zumwalt. What is your relationship to Zumwalt and his diaries? How did you come upon them?

Philip Zumwalt is my wife’s uncle, the eldest brother of her father, Homer Zumwalt. At the end of WWII, Philip’s diaries and letters were recovered and sent to Homer’s parents by a friend of Philip’s named Lucky Stevens. Upon the death of his mother, Homer recovered the documents in his parents’ attic. Later, he entrusted them to my wife and me. The diaries and letters may currently be accessed in the archives section of Seymour Library at Knox College.

Many wartime stories continue to be relevant and meaningful to audiences even as time passes. How do you feel that this story will be meaningful to readers in and out of the Knox community?

I suppose the essence of this story is much the same as other personal stories about families being impacted by the ravages of war. Whether the wars of previous generations or those of

modern day, the cost is immense and the losses irreplaceable.

Many have written that WWII was a “necessary war.” It is difficult to argue that point given the possible implications of what an Axis powers victory might have meant to the world. However, an epigraph to the novel might best state the overall message of the story. Carl Sandburg once wrote in his epic poem, “The People, Yes,”

“Sometime they’ll give a war and nobody will come.” Wouldn’t that be ideal? No more wars. Or to paraphrase John Lennon, imagine if that dream became a reality!

A couple of different themes are pervasive in the novel. First—the loss of the innocence of youth. A sensitive, young man, a poet/musician thrown into the maelstrom of war is forced to come to grips with the reality of war. Second—the transcendent power of love. To quote a character in the novel, “Even in the midst of tragedy, there is hope. Even in the midst of war, there is love.”

Perhaps, the words of the philoso pher Santayana etched on the base of the statue of a Jewish prisoner at the Nazi concentration camp in Dachau,

Germany, say it best, “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” If we take warning from those awful lessons from the past, we can only hope that the child who uttered the words in Sandburg’s poem was prophetic and that war will be no more.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Maybe a quote from Kathleen Barber, a Galesburg High School graduate and Galesburg native. Katie is the author of Truth Be Told (now an Apple+ series) and Follow Me. Here is what she said about my novel. “Barry Swanson’s immersive debut is at once a tender romance, an insightful coming-of-age story, and an unflinching look at the realities of war. Both uplifting and heartbreaking, Still Points is a book you won’t soon forget.”

Barry Swanson was a visiting professor of educational studies from 2008-2018 and he also served as assistant men’s basketball coach. A Galesburg native, Swanson, now lives in North Carolina.

Knox Writes

Books by Members of the Knox Community

Personalized Philanthropy: Crash the Fundraising Matrix: 2nd Edition

CharityChannel Press, 2015 Steven L. Meyers ’69

Personalized philanthropy is a radical new approach to what we traditionally call planned giving.

After decades of “it’s all-about-ourorganization fundraising,” charities thought it wise to take into account what donors might need from the gift transaction. Meyers has broken through the linguistic and strategic logjam to make sense of connecting donors and charities in a way that will, and already does at some organizations, change the way money is raised.

Psychology Confidential: A Crazy Professor Tells (almost) All the Adventures and Misadventures of his Life in Psychology

Paper Raven Books, 2021 Dr. John Martin ’69

Psychology Confidential is an opportunity to plunge deep into the world of psychology through the inti mate, humorous, and uniquely in formed perspective of Martin. In stories, anecdotes, tales, and adventures taken from his own life and career, Martin provides

readers with insights on the curious, sometimes crazy, findings and people of psychology, his world travels, and fasci nating animal psychology.

So you want to get an A in Chemistry

Kindle books, 2021 Kevin Landgrebe ’80

“I believe the content may help students taking general chemistry; it gives brief synopsis of topics, chemistry problems with guided solutions, and deeper discus sions of topics—all in a colloquial style that I think students will like,” said Landgrebe.

Using this book, you’ll feel like you’re having a conversation with your teacher in which you will get plainlanguage explanations of tough topics.

Lessons Learnt: The Story of Young Mai Covenant Books of Murrells Inlet, 2020 Alfreda Williams ’69

Lessons Learnt: The Story of Young Mai is a heart-touching novel filled with life-changing realizations that will take the readers to the reallife setting where they can see how the challenges of the main character have taught her life lessons. It is a story about a young girl’s life experiences and lessons learned from them.

Lessons Learnt is an extremely honest book, sometimes painful, other times hilariously funny, which closely examines how Mai was affected by her childhood. Through this book, the author aims to give the readers a unique perspective and realization that each problem in life can turn into something great if they take challenges and experiences as lessons in life.

Death on the North Rim Outskirts Press, 2019

By Dewey Moore

Moore’s historical fiction novel was inspired by his 1969 rafting trip through the Grand Canyon with Knox students. On the trip, he became aware of a mysteri ous disappearance of three of John Wesley Powell’s crew members.

For the 150th anniversary of Powell’s expedition (2019), Moore used much historical research to come up with his version of what might have happened.

Death on the North Rim follows one of the men who wanted to fill the blank spots on the map: George Bradley, a Civil War veteran who joins John Powell and the crew of men who made the first trip through the canyons of the Green and Colorado Rivers. Facing unknown dangers, these men attempt to navigate territory that no American settler has ever seen before.

Flashback

Getting Back to Nature

Farm Term students examine native species in Crawford County, Wisconsin. In the background is the Robin Metz farm, where most of the programs were held. Can you identify the participants? (hint: See the list on page 14.)

To read responses to last issue’s Flashback photo, Social Distancing at Pumphandle, visit knox.edu/knoxmag.

Class Knox

Alumni News

Knox Recognizing Notable 2021 Alumni

During Homecoming in May 2022

As part of Knox’s 2021 Homecom ing celebration that will take place this May, the College is recognizing several alumni for their accomplish ments, teamwork and service.

2021 Knox Service Award Winners

• David M. Bates ’78

• Howell “Chip” Evans ’68

• James F. Foley ’78

2021 Knox-Lombard Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees*

• Jun Adachi ’81

• Annette Andresen O’Donnelly ’82

• Tighe Burke ’09

• Brian Glashagel ’94

• 1921 Lombard College Football Team

2021 Scroll of Honor Recipients

• Aiyoung Choi ’63

• Sheila Ann Hegy ’63

• Rodney A. Ross ’65

Knox thanks everyone who submitted nominations for these awards.

Nominate a deserving friend or classmate! Visit www.knox.edu/nominate or contact alumni programs at 888-566-9265 or email alumni@knox.edu.

*The Hall of Fame recipients will be recognized in October 2022.

Senior Challenge 2021, Every One for Everyone

Senior Challenge is a long-standing Knox tradition, led by members of the graduating class in support of a particular initiative at the College. Launched in 1986, Senior Challenge has raised more than $250,000 to enhance and enrich the student experience, while educating students about the impact of philanthropy and the importance of participation.

Based on their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Class of 2021 raised money for a newly formed Knox College Student Emergency Assistance Fund to assist current Knox students with unanticipated and immediate financial needs. One of the primary goals for the Class of 2021 was to ensure that any Knox student adversely impacted by unforeseen circumstances can have their basic needs met. A total of 91 seniors gave to the 2021 Senior Challenge for 38 percent participation.

Levi Morgan ’07, assistant director of student and young alumni engagement, said, “We’re very proud of the challenge committee for their leadership in setting up this new fund and for the way they inspired their classmates to give back out of their own pockets.”

In addition to fundraising, the Class of 2021 orchestrated a Senior Day of Service, writing letters of encouragement to both first-year and incoming students, favorite faculty-staff members, and essential workers. Class volunteers also made reusable bags for the Knox Farm and Share Shop and led a campus-wide cleanup project.

Building student and campus morale was another top priority for the 2021 Senior Challenge Team, as they co-hosted the #KnoxProud Day Festival, along with a Senior Trivia Night focused on Knox and faculty-staff trivia.

Thank you, Class of 2021, for your help to ensure future generations of students enjoy life-changing experiences at Knox.

PETER BAILLEY ’74

2021 Senior Challenge Team Members:

Caitlin Edelmuth, Senior Class President

Ikenna Ozor, Senior Class Vice President Montse Cancino, Senior Class Secretary Alessandro Benelli Bennett Van Meter Hailey Nguyen Jason White Maggie Garrett, Junior Class Representative Tina Jeon

Alumni News

Riding the Rails to Success

Abe Zumwalt ’11 recently woke up in a cold sweat, realizing he had just thought of a new solution to a research project from a senior year economics course at Knox with Professor Jonathan Powers. “I had gone down a rabbit hole trying to measure an impact, and the answer finally came to me 10 years later,” he said.

Not surprisingly for anyone who knows Zumwalt, the research problem was about railroads. Abe has loved riding trains for most of his life. He transformed that passion into a career as an associate with R.L. Banks and Associates, Inc., the oldest railroadspecific consulting firm in the United States. He works primarily in the passenger rail space, with current projects focusing on the feasibility of extending passenger rail services, and aiding negotiations between municipal ities and railroads about rights of way for freight and passenger rail service.

His passion for trains was evident from his first year as a student at Knox. Noting his interest in how systems work, Abe’s advisor, Stephen Fineberg, Szold Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Classics, suggested that he major in economics. Steve Cohn, Charles W. and Arvilla S. Timme Professor in Economics, was influential, providing Abe direction in some independent studies. “I was able garner a business understanding of how railroads work and how they are different from highways and air travel.”

The location of Knox in Galesburg, a railroad hub, was a boon to Abe’s knowledge base.

“The Seymour Library has an outstanding collection on railroads. I read all about them—mostly over break when I was traveling to and from Seattle on the Empire Builder, splitting sleepers with classmates.”

He was able to extend his studies to these trips. “When you drive through the country, you’ll never see a main street from the interstate. However, there is reliable activity in every place where the train stops,” explained Abe. “I became convinced that this pulse of life, the train stopping in the town, created a spark of activity. I saw the station as a portal to generate other economic activity.”

John Spittell, the Joseph E. & Judith B. Wagner Distinguished Chair in Business and Executive in Residence, put Abe in contact with BNSF employees, helping him move closer to his career in the rail industry. On a study abroad term in Besançon, France, Abe was able to explore the differences between the U.S. and European rail systems.

Grants from the Richter Memorial Trusts allowed him to attend confer ences sponsored by rail organizations to continue his research and network. Lane Sunderland, Chancie Ferris Booth Professor Emeritus of Political Science, aided in Abe’s first career move, putting him in contact with Barry Williams ’78, who worked for the National Association of Railroad Passengers, where Abe worked for seven years before moving to R.L. Banks & Associates, Inc.

The Knox experience allowed him to parlay his passion into a career that is open to more students. “The railroad is kind of like wallpaper. It’s always in the background to the Knox experience, but it’s overlooked as a career field and there is a lot to do. It’s not going away any time soon.”

And the revelation about his research? “Looking at actual property taxes near the station instead of appraised property values—it would have changed everything,” said Abe.

Abe Zumwalt ’11 boarding a Spanish Overnight “Trenhotel” bound from Lisbon, Portugal to Biarritz, France.

Class Knox

Meet Levi Morgan ’07 Assistant Director of Student and Young Alumni Engagement

Levi Morgan understands firsthand how difficult it is to stay connected to one’s alma mater while navigating the myriad personal and professional changes that follow graduation. Now, as Knox’s new assistant director of student and young alumni engagement, he is working both to ensure the College can offer meaningful experiences and support for alumni in the early years of their careers and to help current students understand and appreciate the vital role alumni play in shaping their own Knox experience.

What’s it like to be back at Knox after more than a decade?

There are many changes around campus, such as Alumni Hall, WAC, the whale in SMC. However, the conversations I hear while sitting in the Gizmo (I promise I am not eavesdropping) are still the same. A Knox student still sounds like a Knox student and that is very refreshing.

You’ve spent your career working with college students. What appeals to you about that work?

College students provide a fresh perspective on the world and working with them helps me keep my eyes open to new ideas and ways of thinking. I have found that the only thing constant is change. A Knox education uniquely prepares students to be able to survive and thrive as the world around them changes.

What do you think alumni want from Knox during the first years of their careers?

We are talking to young alumni to see what they want and need from us. We have a great team, but we are not in their shoes. We want them to know that they are Knox students for a relatively brief period, but Knox alumni for the rest of their lives! So to all young alumni out there, let us know what you want and need from Knox! (Alumni of all ages can email engage@knox.edu with ideas about events, volunteer opportunities, career support, or anything else Knox!)

What do you think makes students and young alumni choose to give back to Knox?

Those who decide to give back want to look after the next generation of Knox students and ensure that a Knox education stays a Knox education for those who come after.

“There are many changes around campus, but … a Knox student still sounds like a Knox student, and that is very refreshing.”

What are you looking forward to most now that the world is opening back up after the pandemic?

I would say traveling, but we are renovating a late 19th century opera house in Alexis, and that is taking up the bulk of our free time! I look forward to just casually meeting up with friends without having to think twice.

(Editor’s Note: As the magazine was going to press, Levi was given a new role as associate director of College engagement.)

CARLA WEHMEYER

Would you believe that Marian Tenhaeff Trythall ’51 bought a

1950

We are Knox.

“Not much news from here, just trying to adjust to single life again,” says Bob Willett. He lost his wife, Donna, to Alzheimer’s in January and is now living with his daughters, Leslie and Barb. Bob says they are great caregivers, but that life is much different now. In July, he had another arti cle published in Aviation History, titled “Epitaph for a Hero,” about his MIA cousin lost in WWII. He is happy to see it in print. He is also anxious to get back to traveling in August, if all the re quirements for passengers and crew are com pleted on the cruise ships he favors. He says one of the problems is getting crews back on board from so many different countries with their re strictions and travel requirements.

If you attended Knox for one year, two years, or graduated with honors, you are a Knox alumnus/a. You are the best reflection of Knox College and the education it provides. So, keep us informed. Tell us what you’ve been up to, if you’ve been promoted or honored, or simply say hello. Here’s how:

• Contact your Class Correspondent;

• If you don’t have a correspondent, email, call, or “snail mail” us directly (see below);

• Or have other media sources send us press releases, articles, and publicity.

Please send information about births, marriages, and deaths directly to: Alumni Records

Knox College, Box K-230 Galesburg, IL 61401-4999

Email: records@knox.edu

Send all other updates, correspondence, or questions to: Jan Wolbers

Class Notes Editor, Knox Magazine Knox College, Box K-230 Galesburg, IL 61401-4999

Email: jkwolbers@knox.edu

Please note that Class Notes may be edited for space and in accordance with the Knox Style Guide.

Class Correspondent: Megan Clayton Knox College, Box K-210, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401, 309-341-7476, pclayton@knox.edu

1951

Jay Burgess sends his greeting to all his Knox pals, and says he’s lucky to be alive after the last year! ❯ Would you believe that Marian Tenhaeff Trythall bought a new bike at the age of 92? She recently had her bike stolen while it was locked and parked at a grocery store. Since the alternative was to quit riding, she decided to replace it instead. Marian still rides about 20 miles with two senior biking groups on trails with little traffic. She says it’s a great way to stay social and exercise at the same time.

Class Correspondent: Megan Clayton Knox College, Box K-210, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401, 309-341-7476, pclayton@knox.edu

1952

Bobbie Stout Goforth writes that she always enjoys hearing news about Knox and is happy to hear that some traditions, like Pumphandle, continue. She stays in touch with Ann Carlson Carnahan and Priscilla Chandler Ruppe, who are both well but live far away. Ann and her dog, Lola, live in California where she still golfs when Lola lets her leave the house without her. Ann sends “funny” emails, and Priscilla, in Florida, reminisces about teaching in Bobbie’s old Chicago high school right after they graduated. Bobbie was finally able to spend time with her great granddaughter in June. Bobbie lives in a senior community that still has some restrictions, but she says her art and exercise classes have re sumed, and the beauty salon is once again open.

Class Correspondent: Megan Clayton Knox College, Box K-210, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401, 309-341-7476, pclayton@knox.edu

1953

Class Correspondent: Audrae Norris Gruber 2419 Woodridge Lane, Brainerd,MN 56401-5533, Aaudraepaul@aol.com

1954

We seem very quiet as we age in place. Except for Dave Kurtz. Dave emails that he would like to send some news, but he is too busy: “too much is going on out here in central Pennsylvania.” OK!

Ron Leganger is still travelling, driving from Florida to Chicago, but in doubt about his usual fall trip to Europe. Ron will be 90 on November 5 with a goal of breaking 100. ❯ I’m not sure about 100, but the California DMV seems to be lieve that I will at least make 93, renewing my driver license until 2025, online without an exam.

❯ Jim Wirt has written a book, but I have yet to receive the copy he promised to send me. ❯ Sadly, we have lost six class members since the last report. John Lawrence and Marilyn Collopy passed away in October, Jim Albrecht, our class president, and his fellow Phi Gam Don Stoffel, in February, and Anna Mae Normandin Watson and Joan Mannion Manierre in April.

❯ As were a number of us, Don was the first in his family line to graduate from college. But not the last. He was followed by daughter Mary Stoffel ’82 and her daughter Eva Marley ’13. Mary reports that Don was quite “with it” until the last day or two.

Class Correspondent: Jim Dunlevey 27419 Embassy Street, Menifee, CA 92586-2005, dunlevey@aol.com

1955

With great sadness, I share the news that long time class correspondent Dorothy Thomas Wharton passed away at the end of May. Her warmth and kindness will be missed by her class mates and the Knox community alike. Many shared their memories of her when I requested news for this issue. ❯ Lynn Weise Victor: “I have had ongoing and frequent messaging with Dorothy over so many years. Her constant pres ence, her family, and what she represented so far as my beloved Siwash were a foundation in my world. Several weeks ago, she wrote that she was going to have to curtail our frequent visits as her son-in-law had unexpectedly died of a heart at tack. Good mother that she was, her message to me told me she would withdraw from our ongo ing conversation for a while. Missing her, I sent a beautiful picture of a lazuli bunting to her, a bird my daughter and I had discovered as we hiked for wildflowers. Such an appealing work of art, that spectacularly beautiful creature and then there was no response from Dorothy. She’ll write when there is time, I thought. Time has ended.” ❯ Don ’53 and Gail Holmes Curtis: “Dorothy loved Knox and keeping up with all of us.” ❯ Paul Johnson: “I am shocked to hear about Dorothy’s passing. Dorothy was a real friend to all, and I loved emailing back and forth with her, which we did often through the years. One of the things that I regret was living so far apart and not hav ing the opportunity for a face-to-face relationship with Dorothy and Bud. I will miss her greatly.

Class Knox

new bike at the age of 92?

There are just a few people in life that touch your heart and Dorothy was at the top of the list.” ❯ Al and Barbara Behringer Paulus ’56: “Barb and I were so saddened to learn of Dorothy’s death. Our contribution to the next Class Notes is to express our sadness and our gratitude for the wonderful efforts Dorothy put forth as our class correspondent. She was the best. We’ll also miss the personal correspondence with her and Bud. Although we are thousands of miles apart we kept each other advised of our lives and our families. This is what ‘Knox Family’ is all about. We miss her.”

Class Correspondent: Megan Clayton Knox College, Box K-210, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401, 309-341-7476, pclayton@knox.edu

1956

News from class members is scarce for this issue of Knox Magazine. Is this an indication that we are making a slow adjustment to the “new nor mal” and cautiously getting back to our activities? ❯ We did hear from Stan and Jenny Anton, who are sharing their big news that “finally, at their ripe old ages,” they will become grandparents. Their daughter, Georgina, and her husband, An drew, married in August 2020, expect a baby boy to arrive on or around November 25. They re gard this as a precious and blessed Thanksgiving gift for all concerned. ❯ Bob and Judy Bowers Rothe ’58 survived the pandemic without prob lem. As you may remember, Bob had to dismantle his internationally published model railroad (1947-2019) when they moved to Frasier Mead ows, a retirement community. In June, he began a smaller replacement operational model. Mean while, Bob used the pandemic time to write a mystery novel titled A Minor Case of World-Wide Nuclear Terrorism. He also developed the singleline mathematical equation of the square as well as the well-known baseball diamond. Judy has be come heavily involved in community affairs at Frasier Meadows. No idle time there! ❯ Gay Taylor Jolley has used the pandemic to learn lots of things, including how to conduct Zoom meet ings with closed captioning and breakout rooms. She thinks that’s not too bad for a person whose physics at Knox stopped with vacuum tubes, if anyone remembers those. She transferred her Bible study and prayer shawl ministry to Zoom. The Bible study worked well, but she found it re ally difficult to fix knitting problems on Zoom and noted that everyone missed the passing of chocolates. Gay met new people, learned about old friends, and rediscovered that, at center, she really is not that interested in housekeeping. (Not alone there!) Cooking became more of an outlet, particularly vegetables. She said Knox is on her agenda for ’22. ❯ Bob ’55 and I celebrated our 65th wedding anniversary in June with a gather ing of family and close friends. Our daughters, the Fabulous Five, had the house looking like a florist shop and had tables laden with way too much food (and yes, most of it delicious and un

healthy). This is a milestone that others in the class either have or will mark soon—whoever would have thought about this kind of event back in 1956?

Class Correspondent: Ricky Jung Schwarzler 854 Cessna Street, Independence, OR 97351, schwarzler@msn.com

1957

Jamie Bjorkman wrote a response to the mention of Art Carlson introducing pizza to Galesburg in the last Magazine. Says Jamie, “I shall stake my claim to fame by being Galesburg’s first pizza delivery person. My route was to de liver Art’s hot, fresh pizzas from the Phi Delt House (the finish site of the famous annual barrel races) at 382 North Kellogg Street to the Knox campus. The installation of his pizza oven was a hot topic around the house, but Art pulled it off, and the rest is history.” ❯ Casey Martin Clark shared that she didn’t have much news, but she feels very lucky to have survived the pandemic until vaccination time! She writes that her grand mother survived the early 1900s flu epidemic. As a California resident, she says dry and fire season is on everyone’s mind right now. Her second home is high in the mountains so it’s not quite as vulnerable as the foothills. She writes, “People in the woods are clearing lots and putting metal skirts on their cabins. I plan to start traveling again in October. I always think of Knox with gratitude and love for the time I was there.” Class Correspondent: Megan Clayton Knox College, Box K-210, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401, 309-341-7476, pclayton@knox.edu

1958

Mary Zahutnik Krughoff reports that her oldest grandson and his wife are expecting a girl in Sep tember, and her middle grandson is starting his fellowship at Duke for reconstructive surgery. ❯ Bill Baffes left a nice message on voicemail to say that he and Joan Walant Baffes have 17 grandchildren and nine great grandchildren. Bill continues to work at their supermarket when he’s at home in Lake Geneva. The couple also spend time at their place in Arizona to escape the cold. He reports that they are relatively healthy and are always thinking of Knox College. ❯ Ken Turner wrote to say that he and Sue are in good health. They split their time between Naples, Florida, and living on Lake Chatuge in the North Georgia mountains. Says Ken, “Life is good!” ❯ Ron Streibich finally retired after a long career directing fundraising for Knox, Northwestern University, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M. The latter included work ing for the George H.W. Bush Presidential Li brary. He is now fundraising for a memorial for astronauts, which will be placed at the entrance of the NASA Johnson Space Center, just across the street from his lakeside residence in the Clear Lake area of Houston. ❯ Knox alumni Dr. Carolyn Anderson ’73 and John Norton are

helping the Swedish Prairie Utopia of Bishop Hill celebrate its 175th Anniversary with papers relating to its remarkable history, written and presented by Carolyn and John during this an niversary year. Carolyn has written about the ma terial culture of the community. John will finish with an October presentation on the last two let ters written to Bishop Hill by colony founder Erik Jansson, from his refuge in St. Louis. He wrote the letter just days before his murder in May 1850 by a disgruntled colonist, John Root, who had been denied permission to take his wife from Bishop Hill as he left the colony. Root con fronted Jansson in the Cambridge, Illinois, court house on May 13, 1850, and murdered him during a trial recess. The letters give remarkable insight into Jansson. Both Carolyn and John have been deeply involved in research about that pio neering prairie village just north of Galesburg. ❯ Mike and Pat Ruffolo write that blending their pre-COVID patterns with what is possible now is easier said than done. They are happy to be able to resume traveling, however. ❯ Laura Marin sent us a note reporting that her mother, Paula Fritze-Marin, passed away. Laura says, “She grad uated in 1958 and attended the 50th Reunion at Knox. Her college years were those she treasured most from her youth and gave her the knowledge needed for a successful career in sociology. I can personally attest that her education didn’t hurt much in raising kids either! Paula followed both of her parents to Knox and her great grandfather, Nehemiah White, was the president of Lombard College. ❯ I’d like to extend an apology to Mary Ann Jalovec Gleason for the misspelling of her maiden name in the last issue.

Class Correspondent: Megan Clayton Knox College, Box K-210, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401, 309-341-7476, pclayton@knox.edu

1959

Hello, I sent an email to class of 1959: “For the past 15 months … hopefully we were lucky enough to escape the worst of COVID-19. Please tell us how you will remember COVID-19.” A very special thank you to the classmates who replied. I even sent a second email to a few class mates threatening to make up stories about them. ❯ Georgia Raft Souris replied, “I certainly hope you can make up some exciting things, because as you well know, nothing has happened in the past year. My husband had a knee replacement in Jan uary, then he got a blood clot, but he’s doing bet ter now. Our granddaughter is having another baby girl next month. I guess we all know what some people did during the lockdown. When I win the lottery, I will certainly let you know.” She forgot to add that she will be sharing her win nings. ❯ Jan Eisner MacDonald shared that Jim had two knee replacements and open-heart surgery, all successful, and he’s doing quite well. She also said it is amazing how the world has changed. Remember one phone, party lines, ex pensive long-distance rates? Now Zoom takes us

any and everywhere. ❯ Louise Bost Wolf asked, how did you get this job? I told her the truth— they asked 100 people who turned them down. I was the last one in line. Louise and Bob ’58 stayed home, got their vaccines, and are still stay ing home. ❯ Jan Shroyer is selling her cottage in northern Michigan and decided to live yearround in Winston Salem, North Carolina (hot weather and all). ❯ Elva Hohe answered for Paul—COVID was a bump in an otherwise won derful life, and sorry for those who did not fare as well. Continued to take care of the grandkids while parents worked at home. Managed to get fitter, walking daily, chair yoga, even lost some weight by not eating out in restaurants. ❯ Dave and Susan Poston replied that their grandson, Nate, a junior in high school, visited Knox on a wretched weather day this spring. The warmth of his welcome from Knox more than made up for the weather. He was most impressed with whom and what he encountered at Knox. ❯ David Ehlert is living near Buchanan, Michigan. “Grandson Lucas and his family are living with me. Lucas has a 7-year-old daughter, Alivia, who is learning chess, and she keeps me on my toes. For years I taught math at Indiana University at South Bend (IUSB) and, last June with the pan demic, I retired. My wife of 50 plus years passed away in 2014. We have three children, seven grandchildren, and so far, four great grandchil dren. I often recall things and people from Knox.” ❯ Larry and Barbara Woods Blasch ’61 have decided the time has come to leave their beautiful Seabrook Island and move to Rich mond, Virginia, to be nearer their daughter. They have lived on Seabrook Island for more than 20 years, so it was a difficult decision. ❯ Bob Grover: “If you’re able to read this it means you have survived the worst pandemic in over 100 years. Congratulations! Hopefully by now we are back to normal, but for many of us, it will be a new or different normal. For me, the family Zoom calls that began during the pandemic will continue—but maybe only bi-weekly or monthly instead of every week. My wife, Jane, will be going to the office more but will still work at home whenever she can. We truly enjoy the to getherness. The pandemic also resulted in new ways of doing things. Try the What’s Good app from which we order quality farm market goods delivered to our Chicago condo at little or no cost. Amazing! My Northwestern Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) classes will return to being mostly in-person, and this will limit my participation from what has become, during the pandemic, our second home in Leelanau County, Michigan, northwest of Traverse City. My contacts with our classmates have been limited. Conny Drew Tozer left us in Chicago for the warm climes of Florida, and Paul and Elva Hohe now seem permanently stuck in California after unloading their Chicago condo. However, Paul and Elva did join one of our Grover family Zoom sessions earlier this year while babysitting one of their beautiful grandchildren. The only other

classmate I hear from is Nick Karay, who period ically sends me and others, including Mel Brown Jr., stuff he finds on the internet, mostly ridicu lous but sometimes inspiring. (Don’t take me off your list, Nick.) And finally: remember to eat less, exercise more, wear your seat belt, stay on your meds, and tip at least 30% for the rest of 2021.” ❯ Bill Reiners: “I don’t have anything newswor thy, just hello. We did remain secure throughout the pandemic and are fully vaccinated. I’ll proba bly have a nice story in the fall.” I will hold Bill to giving his story. ❯ Finally, what I did—I knit, crochet, and have always wanted to learn to weave. I found a teacher who would give me pri vate weaving lessons, and I fell in love with the result of warp and weft yarn designs, and I, yep, bought a loom. Anyone need a scarf or a shawl? Again, big hugs to those who replied and looking forward to others replying in the future.

Class Correspondent: Conny Drew Tozer 11125 Thyme Dr., Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418-3528, connytozer@yahoo.com

1960

Like most of you, my heart goes out to today’s Knox students, faculty and staff for whom the “new realities” of this decade have created chal lenges far different from any we experienced dur ing the late 1950s. Bob Baker’s reflections offered insights as follows. “As I look back,” he wrote, “I remember two ideas that I somehow (even with a hangover) remember from my classes and discussions with Professor Bill Matthews. One: there is always a polarity and tension between extreme views, as in philosophy between idealism and empiricism, or between right and left, or between life and death. Most of us live in the middle, but for a few that is unbear able, and they founder about, in one extreme or the other. Two: when one moves to the extreme empirical side of the polarity, as contemporary education has with its emphasis on STEM educa tion, one enters the realm of ‘misplaced concrete ness.’ I don’t know anything about the present Knox faculty but from Knox publicity, they appear to be ‘go-getters’ who are focused on pub lishing. Perhaps a few fuzzy thinker professors who never publish but sit in the Gizmo and talk with students about ideas and values would be in order, and I hope they still exist at Knox. Liberal arts colleges nationwide are today under siege, so good luck in keeping a liberal arts tradition going in a depressed and depressing ‘forgottonia’ (i.e. western Illinois). May the force be with our new president.” ❯ Mary Knight shared this overview of her days. “Zoom meetings, a few adult educa tion courses, golf here in Florida, a fun week with my kids in the Bahamas after everyone was vacci nated. Occasionally visit with Bob ’62 and Barb Schmid ’62, who winter in Arizona, and I keep in close touch with Roger ’63 and Bunny ’63.” ❯ Robert Hajostek wrote, “Nancy and I have led a pretty boring life in the last year. Some different things—because we have usually hiked a lot and

been active. So, we bought a recumbent exercise bike. Nan rides that every other day for an hour. I still hike, but on the wide trails. We have set up and make almost daily use of two punching bags in our garage. Now, I have muscles in my upper body and arms and am much stronger than I have been in years (or ever for that matter). We are readers and belong to five different book clubs, which Zoom once a month, but we do not read the books unless they are of interest to us. Now that we have been vaccinated, we are planning some domestic trips. Travel is the thing we miss the most; we have traveled to 55 different coun tries, some many times, and our lives were always filled with planning and going on trips. The memories of those experiences are so important to us.” ❯ After 30 years of volunteer leadership with Cincinnati’s Friends of the Public Library, Mary Lu Aft has passed the baton to new staff members and volunteers and has accepted emeri tus board status. I’ve agreed to get in line to chair the volunteer board of the Cincinnati College Conservatory’s friends and alumni. Together, we’ll resume our active concert-going schedule at CCM and a number of other performance venues as soon as health officials sound the “all clear.” Class Correspondent: Dick Aft 775 Windings Lane, Cincinnati, OH 45220, aftd@fuse.net

1961

It was fun to hear back from Constantine Santas. He says, “Thank you for your corre spondence, which reminds me of the happy and profitable time I spent at Knox. I was a foreign student when I entered Knox at the ripe age of 27, so I am now an elder of 92, in relatively good health. I owe a great debt to Knox College, not only for my splendid education but also because Knox College introduced me to American cul ture. I obtained my doctorate at Northwestern University, and taught English in many institu tions from 1962 to 2001, when I retired. Knox is a splendid institution, and the days I spent there prepared me for a successful career not only as a teacher, but as a person happy in Earth’s greatest melting pot.” ❯ Peter Johanson writes, “I am happily retired in a small village called Ajijic, along the shores of Lake Chapala at an elevation of 5,000 feet just south of Guadalajara, Mexico. Ajijic has a population of about 6,000 persons, many of whom are retired citizens from the U.S. and Canada.” ❯ Here’s a great story from George Johnson: “In the spring 2021 issue of Knox Magazine, Susan Shea Worthington re quested that anyone who participated in the prank of filling the one entrance to the old Gizmo with snow in the winter of 1959-60 to ‘fess up.’ I immediately contacted both of my at torneys. One is my son and the other is my grandson. Both of them were of the opinion that the applicable statute of limitations would ‘proba bly’ bar my prosecution for committing this prank. (Please note the word ‘probably,’ which is

“If you’re able to read this it means you have survived the worst

Class Knox

a typical answer when you are not paying a lawyer.) In order to protect my other pranksters, and, with an abundance of caution, I will not dis close the names of any other pranksters. In recent photographs I have seen that significant modifi cations have been made to the Gizmo entrance, so a repeat of the prank would be difficult to achieve. In other news, Lois and I have nine grandchildren. All of them are either finishing college or grad school or beginning their careers. I am now retired from my law practice. We reside full-time at the Jersey Shore where Lois and I met more than 58 years ago.” ❯ Denis M. Bohm proves that Knox alumni have wide and varied in terests! “I’m retired after 33 years in IT and am living in Mettawa, Illinois, where I was recently elected to my second term as village trustee. A physics major turned politician! Children and seven grandchildren live in Illinois, Seattle, At lanta, and Austin. And two great grandsons! My daughter, Chris Bohm Gavlin ’82, and her hus band, Tim ’82, live nearby. Life has been very good since graduating from Knox. Can’t beat the liberal arts education.” ❯ We are actively recruit ing for a new correspondent for the Class of 1961, so if you are interested, please contact ei ther Megan Clayton or Jennifer Gallas at jgal las@knox.edu.

Class Correspondent: Megan Clayton Knox College, Box K-210, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401, 309-341-7476, pclayton@knox.edu

1962

Lee Benham: “During the pandemic, Alexandra ’61 and I have greatly enjoyed our little garden. Discovered that the word “paradise” comes from old Persian, meaning a walled garden, so a refuge of safety, beauty, and rest. Indeed. In my 80th year, I have been imagining the perceptions of a Knox alumnus who was 80 years old at our 1962 graduation. This person might have served in the Spanish-American War, seen the first Wright brothers’ flight, experienced WWI, the Spanish flu, and the events of the 1930s and ’40s. Is the experience gap between age 21 and age 80 for us smaller or larger than that? Alexandra and I are fine, relying heavily on Zoom for connections, hoping to meet in person again, and looking for ward to the class Reunion next year.” ❯ Robert Pekarek, Ph.D: “I am from the class of ’62 with very fond memories of Knox. I majored in biol ogy and was a member of Alpha Delta Epsilon Fraternity. Married Joyce Larson, class of ’63, have two wonderful daughters, and three grand children working on their bachelor’s and ad vanced degrees in college. I received my master’s and Ph.D. degrees in microbiology and was in in fectious disease research. Just recently, I turned 81 and am now happily retired in Beaverton, Oregon.” ❯ Sandra Sherrick Schuldt: “My life is busy, and I’m grateful to be healthy enough to enjoy it. I am living in the Iowa City Oaknoll Re tirement Community. Cooking less and no snow removal, no yard work except planting flowers on

our campus if I choose to participate. Since my husband David, an avid bicyclist, was killed by a motorist while riding his bicycle two years ago, life has been busy planning his memorial service, supporting a grieving family, friends, and former students, planning his ghost bicycle memorial, and helping plan and construct a Habitat for Hu manity house build in his memory. During free time I enjoy puzzles, yoga, book group, texts from friends, family visits, programs, and Hawk eye sports.” ❯ Patricia Gronemeyer Carrell:

“We recently moved from Henderson, Nevada, to Santa Rosa, California.” ❯ Mary Merikle:

“Never in my wildest imagination would I have expected to celebrate my 80th birthday in my driveway! Yet that’s what happened—son and daughter-in-law, eight friends and neighbors, all physically distanced, sharing cake and bubbly. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. Sadly, no grandchildren because both, university students, were living in apartments with roommates. Dur ing the past year or so, I have read lots of good books and some not so good. My book club met once a month on Zoom. Not quite as good as in person, but we still had some really lively discus sions. Another activity that helped pass the time was playing online Scrabble with two friends. I have even discovered words I did not know ex isted. Lastly (oh, I could say more, but...) a friend (also named Kathryn) and I got together once a week for wine, snacks, and lots of talk. Now that things are finally opening up, I see both my grandchildren, other friends, and even go into stores! Got my second shot in June. Now if hair dressers would only open up, I could get a HAIR CUT!” ❯ Dick Wertz: “Dear Kate—it’s good to hear that you are still with us and enjoying life. I don’t have a current events story, but it occurs to me that I have never properly acknowledged the role that Knox’s most famous graduate, Janet Greig Post, played in getting me into and paying for my graduate work at the Fels Institute of Local and State Government at the University of Pennsylvania. My encounter with Ms. Post hap pened during the winter of my senior year when one of my part-time jobs was delivering flowers for a Galesburg florist. She was in town to attend a Knox Board of Trustees meeting, and the Col lege had arranged to have flowers sent to the local hotel where she was staying as a greeting. When I arrived at the hotel with the flowers, I was told that the hotel was short-handed that day and that I should deliver the arrangement myself to Ms. Post’s room. Ms. Post answered the door herself, gratefully accepted the bouquet and then had me wait until she could find her purse so that she could give me a tip—which was a dime. Now granted, the cost of living was much less in the ’60s, but at the time I did think that the tip was a bit on the low side. Nonetheless, I did with the Post dime what I did with all of my tips and parttime earnings—gave it to Dr. Pillsbury to pay down my college loans. Later that year, when I applied to the University of Pennsylvania, I also applied for a scholarship and a fellowship from

the Samuel S. Fels Foundation in the hope of having some of my graduate work paid for. Since the Fels application required a complete listing of my undergraduate funding sources, I of course included Janet Greig Post as one of my benefac tors. As luck would have it, the good folks at the Fels Foundation were great admirers of Janet Greig Post, and it was the deciding factor grant ing me an all-expenses-paid year in Philadelphia. And that is why you should never look a gift horse in the mouth.”

❯ Ingrid Malm Temple:

“My news is that Tom died of a COVID-19 re lated stroke on January 21, 2021. I was sick with COVID too, but survived after a collapsed lung and becoming a diabetic. I am planning to move in early September to independent living in a re tirement home, Monarch Crossing, in Naperville, Illinois. I will be close to my older daughter Laura, her husband, and two of my granddaugh ters. I’m finding a challenge in emptying our home of 53 years, especially since I’m discovering that family heirlooms aren’t so treasured by mil lennials.”

❯ Kate Calvert Bloomberg: “Some how my life continues to overwhelm me. Scott and I still live in Brookfield, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. We survived COVID with the help of Florida sunshine, golf, and water. We spend the winters in the Villages, and I’m sure you have heard wild and crazy stories of life in the Villages. My 80th was shared with kids and grandkids in the resort in northern Michigan, where I was raised. The weather and the fish behaved. We are co-owners of a grand sailboat and enjoy escaping to Lake Michigan. We enjoy a summer week at the Chautauqua Institute in Chautauqua, New York, with fellow Knoxites, complete with lec tures, performances, and gin and tonic. The best part is no grades or term papers.”

Class Correspondent: Kate Bloomberg kateberg40@gmail.com

1963

Class Correspondent: Ramona Reed Landberg

400 Avinger Lane, Apt 136, Davidson, NC 28036, 704-896-1136, landberg.group@outlook.com

1964

The pandemic severely curtailed the flow of bucket-list adventures to report. But a few brave souls dug into their past half year to find items of note.

❯ Karen McCauley wrote: “As one of the few people whose life wasn’t totally disrupted by the pandemic because my teaching of counseling skills and astrology has been online since 2007, I feel very fortunate. Most upsetting to me have been the increased societal tribalism and lack of using critical thinking skills in accepting informa tion as valid or reliable. My experience at Knox firmly placed critical thinking as an integral skill for success as an educator and citizen. I’m look ing forward to upcoming in-person visits with friends and family.”

❯ Al and Karen Crumbliss had a busy 2020 into 2021, as Karen (yes, the

Glenn Schiffman ’65 reports that he is retired, hanging with the grandki

totally non-science K) joined Al to get a chem istry paper published! “We spent two months to move Al out of his Duke office after 50 years! Whew! Difficult and emotional! In April, we en joyed visiting with Don and Catherine Hardinger Shriver ’66, as their granddaughter graduated from Duke! Look forward to a lessstressed ’21/’22!” ❯ Sandy Allison Cooper remi nisced: “I have had too much time to think in the past year. The news did take me back to Knox and some of my courses. I’ve read a number of books on the Underground Railroad and am thinking of sitting on the steps of Old Main— hearing the railroad. I found a book on the British colonization of the Middle East and the disaster when they made new countries when leaving … thanks, Dr. Haring.” ❯ From Ray Santini: “Diane and I returned to Illinois for the summer, vaccinated and hopeful. COVID is less of a threat. Boat is in the water, and we are rekin dling good times with friends we have not been with for a year and a half. We still wear masks in large groups and in stores, but we’re good. Plan ning on a golf trip or two this summer. We’re re turning to Florida for the winter in the fall and will golf, boat, and cruise the Mediterranean. Be safe and well.” ❯ Lake-Wobegon-esque prose from Evan Cameron: “All is well in Cow Head midway up the Northern Peninsula of New foundland—COVID concerns still mandating the wearing of masks within the local store, post of fice, church, and museum. But the wind blows, the gulls fly, the rain falls – and then, as usual, it clears for sunset. The family assures me that I shall turn 79 before the end of the month, but I distrust large numbers and seldom believe hearsay—especially from those that I know.” (Note that “store” is singular.) ❯ Think we had a COVID tough time? This from Shripad “Sam” Pendse: “After visiting my Indian family for a few months, I was lucky to be able to leave India in March 2020 and to arrive in Australia to visit more family. COVID rapidly became worse, and Australia soon stopped most international flights. So I have unexpectedly been in Australia for al most a year and half. Life is full of surprises. In any case, I am enjoying being here. Australia has very few COVID cases by international stan dards, but it is also badly behind in availability of vaccines. Hopefully the supply will soon in crease.” (Handled like a valedictorian!) ❯ Finally, Jo Ann Ooiman Robinson reports that the Au drey Collet-Conard Prize in Poetry (the fund for which has grown to $20,600), went to a senior from Pittsburgh this year, Lillian Lauver. She is the fifth recipient since the prize was first offered in 2016. Applicants each submit three poems that are judged by a well-known poet selected by Knox faculty. Lillian’s submissions speak to and of re cent hard times and also call to my memory how Audrey (Collet, ’65) was captivated by words. (Jo Ann included one of the award-winning poems which ended with the simple words “Hug me.”

How insightful and beautiful these days.)

Class correspondent: Terry Klopcic klopcicjt2@roadrunner.com

1965

Joe Thompson and his wife, Edie, made the best of the downtime during the pandemic. They did lots of walking and rediscovered the benefits of home cooking. Joe got pretty good at it and lost 20 pounds. While doing all that walking, he also got his precinct in shape. He and Edie finally connected with Toni Cambier, who lives five miles away. They invited her over for dinner on the porch and swapped tales of mischievous ad ventures at Knox. Daughter Sarah, who lives nearby in Asheville, had a gorgeous baby, and now they are now up to three grands. ❯ Lowell Dixon writes that he and his wife Mariclaire re cently sold the house they built in Lake Forest in 1982. They found it hard to leave their home of nearly 40 years, and even harder to get rid of the stuff they had accumulated. They have moved to a nearby retirement community which coinciden tally has attracted other Knox alums. Mary Knight ’60 lives in the other half of their duplex, and next door are Bob and Barbara Schmid ’62. Lowell hopes our class will make up for the Reunion we were robbed of last year. ❯ Henry Randolph writes, “Between visits from our grandsons and my translation practice, it’s been a busy spring and now summer. I’ve translated works from German and French, most recently for scholars at the École Nationale Supérieure and Sorbonne in Paris. The queue for the rest of the year is already filled with works on Kurdistan, the Iraq War, and Algeria. Check out my web site bespoketranslator.us for my portfolio. On the traveling side, my wife Nahomi and I are waiting for Japan to emerge from the pandemic. It inter rupted our 20-year unbroken record of visiting family in that charming country at least once a year. Also on the post-lockdown trip planner is the U.K., where my expat son, Mark, works in data science at Oxford’s Magdalen College, and a sortie to Berlin to sniff some of that heady ‘Berliner Luft’ with my old cousin. Already booked for the fall is a three-day stay in St. George, Utah, where I’ll be competing, after a 10-year hiatus from master’s competition, in the sprints at the Huntsman World Senior Games. And so it goes. I guess someday I’ll actually retire —maybe for a week or so.” ❯ Glenn Schiffman reports that he is retired, hanging with the grand kids, enjoying good health, and living comfort ably in Northwest Montana—“the last best place.” His memoir, Life in the Fast Lane, which is about touring with 40 different rock bands in the ’70s, will be out on Kindle Vella when it launches. Glenn plans to issue more of his writing on Kin dle Vella, including a dozen short stories for chil dren called “Don’t Go North,” three erotic novellas dubbed “Affairs,” and essays thematically linked to being black listed by the FBI in the late ’60s. ❯ Gary Moses writes, “My wife, Marilyn, and I sold our primary residence in Florida in November 2020 with the market at an all-time low since 2008. Shortly after, it spiraled upward at record rates … bummer. We are now living in

Colorado, my Knox origins. Now, some history … a mere 60 years ago, in fall 1961, Hadley Pullen, Tod Brown, Gary McCool, and I, all from George Washington High School in Den ver, boarded the California Zephyr for Galesburg for a trip we would make frequently in the next four years. Jumping ahead, Teresa Amott, after starting on July 1, 2011, visited our annual Col orado Knox Club Summer send-off picnic on Au gust 7, 2011. I attended, and now I look forward to meeting Andy McGadney at the same event, 10 years later to the day … .” ❯ Nikki Borch Sanders writes that she was astonished when she turned 78 this year. She finally retired from hear ing property tax appeals and showing overpriced real estate. She spent the better part of the sum mer in therapy to recover range of motion in her left arm. A fall in March dislocated her shoulder and crushed the top end of the humerus. The re pair of her first broken bone ever required a fiveinch titanium plate and 10 screws. Nikki is currently serving on the board of directors of the Illinois State Rifle Association. Her major con cern is that society is breaking down and there is no longer the communal will, nor funds, to pro vide for the safety of all. She has specific recom mendations for maintaining personal safety. Above all, Nikki recommends showing up for our 60th. ❯ Bruce St John and wife, Carol, are well and continue to enjoy life in New Mexico. Their older son, Alexander, works as a corporate attor ney in San Francisco, and their younger son, Nathan, is an architect and graphic artist living in Paris. They have three lovely grandchildren. The pandemic gave Bruce time to catch up on some projects. He published a new book, Bolivia: Geopolitics of a Landlocked State, last year and is under contract to complete two more books, Peruvian Foreign Policy in the Modern Era and the Historical Dictionary of Libya, sixth edition, with publication scheduled for 2022. He also has sepa rate chapters on authoritarianism, Libya, and Peruvian statecraft coming out later this year in books edited by colleagues. This summer, he par ticipated in a five-episode Noiser podcast on Qaddafi’s Libya that aired on British radio, and this fall, he will be working with PBS Israel on a documentary on Libya.

Class Correspondent: Terry Rothstein, M.D., 220 N. 32nd Street, Parsons, KS 67357, antiquarian@wavewls.com

1966

As your class correspondent, I am always so grateful for your contributions. Surprisingly, this job is not a chore. It’s a pleasure to read and record what members of Knox Class of ’66 are up to! I am looking forward to our first family vaca tion in one and a half years. All 17 of us will spend a week at Grandview Lodge on Gull Lake in northern Minnesota, a typical midwestern va cation spot that is fun for the whole family—our ages are 1 year to 81 years! I hope you all had a fun-filled summer after all of our collective

Class Knox

ds, enjoying good health, and living comfortably in Northwest Montana

sheltering in place. ❯ Nancy Hubbard Stanley writes: “Greetings from Oklahoma. All is OK here. Went to a nephew’s wedding in Texas re quiring four airplane flights. All of the planes were full, but it worked out fine.” Next, Nancy is planning a trip to San Diego in October with her aerobics class. ❯ Next, Jim Bronson shares: “My sweetie, Sandi, and I are still ‘trapped’ across the COVID-closed border in British Columbia but hope to go south to our home in Ashland, Ore gon, by mid-August. Over the past three years here in North Vancouver, we founded and devel oped an environmental sustainability education organization, www.bcdrawdown.org and regularly teach five-session classes about solutions every one can champion for our climate crisis. Anyone who wants to participate in future classes can email me, jimbronsonashland@gmail.com. Wishing all to be thriving, especially the next generations who will inherit the legacy we leave behind.” ❯ Here’s Jim Johnson’s message: “I spent most of my COVID social life outdoors at home in De catur, Illinois, or wintertime, in Bonita Springs, Florida. Lots of bicycling, including a recent ride up Route 66 from St. Louis to Chicago. The COVID experience certainly reminds us how vul nerable and interdependent we all are in spite of precautions we might attempt. Stay well!” ❯ I was extraordinarily moved by this note from Beth Irish, who wrote: “My world was turned upside down in May, with my husband of 44 years unexpectedly passing away. So now I have to figure out what the rest of my life is going to look like. My sons would love for me to move closer; the two-hour drive is a bit much for all of us. So, I guess I will spend the summer sort ing out files and stuff in preparation for that move. I have been thinking about looking into a fall color tour. I love to travel and have not been able to for a couple of years. I have my two COVID vaccine shots and have gotten spoiled by having groceries and meals delivered. It’s time to get back into the stores and do those chores my self!” ❯ Always happy to hear from Halcyon Blake, who planned to have a fun summer: “With vaccinations, Will and I are able to get on the boat and plan for a trip for the winter to Charleston where we have been wintering on board our boat for the last 10 years (excepting this COVID year). I will even be doing a bit of traveling back and forth from wherever we are along the East Coast so that I can share in the excitement of a brand-new baby girl due at the end of August as my daughter, Gretchen, and her wife, Rachel, welcome a much wanted and al ready loved new member of our family, and I am thrilled. Maybe a new member of the class of 2040? I’m still enjoying my retirement from Halcyon Yarn, which allows me to do the parts I’ve always enjoyed most by helping long distance with customer service and answering weaving-re lated questions. Here’s to a great year ahead for all of us.” ❯ Larry Sommers has news: “Joelle Nelson Sommers ’67 and I had planned to take our daughter Katie Sommers ’98 and her two

children, Elsie and Tristan, to Italy in 2020 to cel ebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. Obviously, that did not happen, and Italy is still not quite ready yet. So we’re taking them this summer to Alaska—which is open for business, and where they’ve never been. Looking forward to a good time. We’re also doing a Road Scholar tour of New England in September with church friends. Also looking forward to Homecoming October 8-10. See you then.” ❯ Allan Penwell sends in lovely and exciting news: “Peg and I were mar ried on December 1st last year in the middle of the pandemic. She was a widow, and I was a wid ower. It’s a long story, but we were not exactly new to each other as she cut the cake in my wedding in 1980. I play a lot of golf and do a lit tle accounting which would be a shock to Wilbur Pillsbury if he were still around.” ❯ Mike Denniston and his wife are traveling the world again: “Life goes on. We were vaccinated in Feb ruary and March after two 200-mile round-trip journeys to Toccoa, Georgia, to get the jab. Nowadays they are begging people in Georgia to get vaccinated, but appointments locally were im possible to find (at least with our network) early on. We plan to head to Alaska in early July for a cruise and pre-trip to Denali. On the flight back to Atlanta we plan to spend some time with a grad school buddy in the Seattle area. Maxine wants to see the foliage in New England come September. Our Viking trip to Ukraine was can celled for the second time, and we rescheduled for Greece and Turkey in the fall of 2022. It’s not clear that the world is ready for tourists, but we are ready for it. Nonetheless, there are times I feel like Columbus or Magellan setting out on an uncertain voyage.” ❯ Jay Sommerfield has both sad and happy news. I’m so glad he updated us: “Since our last Reunion in 2016, my wife of 52 years, Elaine Varda Sommerfield ’65, passed away in February 2018. Since that time, I recon nected with Harriet, a woman I had previously met in a local library book club. We traveled to France in 2019 for a river cruise to Normandy on the 75th anniversary of D-Day, to Costa Rica, and to Cuba. We were in Florida in March 2020 when the pandemic hit. Of course, since then, there had been no travel until recently when Harriet and I traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, to visit with Larry ’66 and Joelle Nelson Sommers ’67. Currently we are scheduled to take a trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton in July. We plan to be at Homecoming in October.” ❯ So dear class mates, that winds up this report. As always, thanks for writing. Jay’s message reminds us to start making plans for our 55th Knox Reunion in the fall. Hope to see you there!

Class Correspondent: Judith Holland Sarnecki

judithsmamabear@gmail.com

1967

Greetings, members of the Class of 1967! Life is changing considerably for us, post-vaccine! We

are still cautious but are gradually picking up threads of the pre-COVID lives we enjoyed, and now we realize how much we took for granted. I would add that we have a new appreciation for simple pleasures that might not have received much recognition until we could no longer do them! I’m writing this in mid-summer, and as Anne Talley Turner reminds us, we won’t be see ing this in print until late fall. I wonder how dif ferent our lives and perceptions of safety will be by then … . ❯ One of the rewards of our vaccina tions this spring was a visit from Connie Bond, who was in the PNW visiting family. No masks when it was just the three of us and hugs all around! ❯ To continue the saga of the “Andy House Girls,” we recently exchanged descriptions of what we learned and how we kept busy during our months of quarantine. Nancy Rabenstein Pielemeier summarized this conversation as fol lows: “Seems like the year has been a good time for gardening, doing real estate transactions, hav ing surgery :-(, learning new things, digging in to old and new pastimes (golf, puzzles, listening to music programs and books on tape, learning and participating online—yoga, meditation), discover ing new culinary delights, and, of course, partici pating in Zoom and Facetime gatherings with family, friends, book groups, church services, etc.” ❯ Denny Chase must be eating very well, and he certainly is an ambitious traveler! He writes, “Not much shaking except the fat on us fat peo ple. No surprises anymore and nothing ever changes. Did have a wonderful trip to Morocco in March and will be in Normandy, Belgium, and Holland in September. Planning to take a South Pacific cruise next March and visit New Zealand if anyone is interested in joining us. We were vis iting Israel and Jordan when the COVID non sense started. We had to scamper from Jordan back into Israel before the border closed. Ended up spending six nights in Jerusalem before Turk ish Airlines could fly us to Istanbul. Sat there for a while then flew home. We were lucky. We met quite a few people who were stranded. One cou ple had just arrived and had to turn around and go home.” ❯ Katie Linquist Adams writes from Austin, Texas, “Throughout the pandemic I met with three friends every Friday morning in our driveway. These driveway visits enabled us to get together regularly while socially distancing our selves for safety. No masks needed. Very BYOB, usually coffee. Lots of great conversation and hi larity. Plus, it was just great to be outside.” ❯ Nancy Meyer Darman shared her recent activi ties, “During the pandemic, my new experiences were watching the stream of the Metropolitan Opera every day and singing virtually for a com munity choir and also our church choir. I also en joyed our virtual book discussion with authors who live all over the country. I continued garden ing at our church with our gardening crew. It al ways felt busy.” ❯ Vicki Onderdonk Nowicki shares this inspiring description of her life mis sion: “My husband, Ron, and I have been pas sionately committed to ‘Growing Food at Home’

for at least 40 years now. We crafted a home demonstration garden, which features a nomown-lawn collection of vegetables of every kind being grown in succession throughout the season, woody fruit trees, smaller fruits like strawberries, raspberries, rhubarb, currants, gooseberries, and more, plus the most fun nut trees, hardy kiwis, and my favorite pawpaw trees. We also grow ex tensive herbs and plants that conform to perma culture concepts like windbreaks of large evergreens and deciduous shade trees on the south side of our passive solar home. I am in volved with the GoodFood Festivals in Chicago and have close connections with Slow Food who selected me to represent urban Midwest farmers in Turin, Italy, at their international conference. I have formed groups like the Wild Ones and my own organic gardening club. I cherish my very close relationship with Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa, who are considered to have founded the heirloom vegetable movement back in 1975, and I participate in their various pro grams for homeowners, which provide rare seed to gardeners for trialing. In 2009 I won the Na tional Garden Crusader award because of my de votion to teaching the concepts of the billions of microorganisms that live in the soil who partner with the vegetables to help them thrive! I teach organic food production all over the area, and I’ve had fun writing articles for different maga zines on various topics to which I am devoted. In 2014, I persuaded our conservative public library here in Downers Grove, Illinois, to let me open a seed lending library. Members borrow free seeds, and in the fall, we meet and trade each other for seeds we don’t have yet. Today, as I get decidedly older, my main activities are with the seed library: teaching, demonstrating, and celebrating our work, however small, which is to preserve and protect these ancient, endangered crops so they can be used as our climate gets hotter and drier. I should mention that Ron and I have run a de sign/build landscape business since 1980 with the purpose of helping people live closer to the natu ral world. People who are aware of climate change ask me, ‘What can one person do?’ My answer: You can grow food at home, however small your garden may be, and you will save vast amounts of fossil fuels for our country, you will conserve vast amounts of precious water used to create vegetables in your own yard and you will be able to begin to recover from all the toxic ef fects of industrial food. Climate change is obvi ously the most urgent challenge that humans have ever had to face. Is it too late for us to change the planet-killing legacy that we will leave behind? Maybe some courage will come over us and we can rise to this occasion? Ron and I have been living a delightful and happy life with our garden as our closest companion.”

Class Correspondent: Helen Gilbert helengilbert@learningenrichmentcenter.org

Paul E. Madsen shared “Perhaps because I have reached this stage in life and now have a chance to look back to late September of 1968 when we arrived on the campus of Knox College, the col lective experience of the four years have brought to mind valuable lessons shared with close friends and classmates. I treasure more than ever the suc cesses and failures we shared whether in the classroom or on the athletic field, senior nights at the BV, and lively discussions in the dorms and the fraternity house. When challenging assign ments were due, I could count on classmates to be ready and willing to help. I did not realize it then, but over the years I have come to know how talented, smart, and just plain good human beings our classmates are. For all of that, I am and continue to be thankful! The world contin ues to turn and in some regards things have not changed, but I am encouraged and hopeful that the good in our classmates will help to make the world a better place.” ❯ Kathy Suter reported that “2020 seemed to be a blur to me. My hus band, Ron, and I have been very lucky to be on the Big Island of Hawaii where cases have been lower than many places on the mainland. It gave us time to work on house renovation projects and the gardens and yard. We have a modest 1/2 acre, but the previous owner was a horticulturalist, so we benefit from his original plantings. Things never stop growing, even if they have a short dor mant period. Sometimes I spend a whole day pro cessing oranges, or pineapples, or bananas, or passionfruit to keep them from going bad before we can deal with them. I know … such a hard ship! Despite the lockdown, I have continued as a member of the Bishop Museum Association Council. I am pretty good at Zoom meetings now. They have asked me to start an oral history project with former staff and volunteers to record the personal stories of these wonderful people devoted to the museum. Now that Hawaii has opened up a bit, I am active with the West Hawaii Master Gardeners again. There is so much to learn and share with our group. I have learned to play mah jongg, which I love. So, all in all we are happy, healthy, entertained, and still in love with our life in Hawaii.” ❯ Pam Stoffel sent me empathy vibes as she also broke her left ankle on May 20th and had surgery on the 26th. She just moved from splints to a boot. They’re headed up to their home in Rochester, NY. ❯ Susan Tracy Van Kirk has been busy writing mysteries over the past year. Her first mystery se ries about a small town named Endurance, which is like a combination of Galesburg and Mon mouth, was picked up by Harlequin Worldwide Mystery. A new book in that series, The Witch’s Child, will be out this year in mid-October. She picked up an agent, resulting in a new contract. Next summer, Level Best Books will publish the first of a three-book contract. It’s currently titled Death in a Pale Hue, about a young woman whose mother was a world-renowned sculptor. The daughter moves back to her small town to open an art center in her mother’s name. She discovers

a new meaning to the advice, “Don’t go down to the basement.” Susan is currently beginning her second term as president of the online writing chapter of Sisters in Crime, a group of 1,000+ members. In the meantime, she loves visiting her three children and eleven grandchildren in the Phoenix-Scottsdale area. ❯ Mary Burgland wished she had some big news but life is just rou tine right now. “Most of us are turning 75 this year, and I must say that I am feeling most of it in my bones.” (I agree.) ❯ Bill Millard says all is well. ❯ JoAnne Rawlings Vieweg and Bruce W. Vieweg celebrated their 50th wedding anniver sary on December 12, 2020. They met while painting outhouses at a residential school sum mer camp in New Hampshire for gifted children and teens with emotional problems. They waited until July 2021 to celebrate with their two daugh ters and their families. JoAnne, too, is dealing with a broken bone—in her left foot. She’s hop ing to get the boot off this week, but after two surgeries, it may take even more time. She’s able to get back to some gardening now that her bro ken foot is mending. She finds herself missing the volunteer tutoring at her grandson’s elementary school. She looks forward to being able to have her “kid fix” once we are past the pandemic. She has been able to continue advocacy for individu als on the autism spectrum, mostly in Fargo where they lived for 11 years. Most of it is done virtually. “It is so encouraging to see the progress young people can make with appropriate accom modations.” They are now back in St. Charles, Missouri. She is sewing infant and children’s clothing and selling them through her Etsy shop at www.etsy.com/shop/bunnyluvcreations ❯ Chip Evans shared, “As retired and stay-at-home folks, the pandemic was easy on us. We did more eating of carry-out food, walking the neighborhood, and staying in contact with friends and relatives using the telephone, Zoom, and Facebook. Our ’68 Zoom meetings are continuing every other month. Classmates, please join us. In our Face book group, Knox 68, since August 2020, class mates have posted their stories, one each Saturday, on ‘what I have done since leaving Knox.’ These stories are the most popular posts now. They are full of interesting and unique ex periences. So far 40 classmates have posted their stories. We hope to post at least 100 more in the next two years. Be patient, your time will come.” ❯ Thanks again for all your news. If there are re peats, please forgive. My broken right ankle is feeling much better. I can’t believe how many classmates have broken bones also. Maybe it’s be cause we’ve forgotten how to walk, being inside for so long?! Wes is continuing to be content at his memory care facility. I took our wedding book on June 17 to share our 49th wedding anniver sary. He seemed to enjoy it. Back to eating out and Judd can now visit, making us both so happy. I will be doing crafts for Bible school. Enjoy the summer.

Class Correspondent: Susan Meyer Mika 1519 North Kennicott Avenue, Arlington Heights, IL 60004, 847-253-7719, pottatea@comcast.net

“After 55 years of trying, I recorded my first

Class Knox

hole-in-one on Father’s Day.”

1969

Ralph Walter writes that he has been elected a “visiting fellow” at Oxford College in his retire ment. He also remains a member of the Research Centre in Victorian Political Culture at Keble College, Oxford. Ralph attributes much of his “blessed career” and foregoing accomplishments to his Knox education. Kudos to you, Ralph! ❯ Gary Barnhart (“Barney”) alerted some of us to a Fifty Year Club Bulletin report in its spring 2021 issue that John M. Phillips III (“BJ”) passed away of unmentioned causes on November 17, 2020. Although Barney also provided a link to BJ’s obituary, K.T. Johnson, Jr., then followed with a tribute site he found at John M. Phillips, III Obituary - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , Frank F. DeBor Funeral Home, Inc. | Tribute Archive. ❯ A moment of silence, please, for a former roomie and lifelong friend. BJ was a singular character who will be missed by all who knew him. The Bulletin also notes the passing of classmates David Delawder, Ira Gold, Michael Budds, Nancy Nelson, and Sally Brown Hunt. Condo lences to all friends and family of these, and the many other Knox family members we have lost. May we all have peace and comfort in our time. Class Correspondent: Bill Combs bcombsi@yahoo.com

1970

By the time this edition of the magazine is pub lished, the Class of 1970 will have finally held their 50th Reunion at our 51st Homecoming weekend in October. Thanks to the class of 1971 for allowing us to share their weekend. Thanks, too, to Megan Clayton for her tireless help in or ganizing the event. I hope all of you who at tended had a great weekend and re-established those links to Knox and your old friends. ❯ Marc Wollman: “It has been a strange and uninspiring year, glued to home until recently. Despite all the free time, I have not been inspired to do much ar tistically but am getting back into it. The major activity for me has been helping to care for my mother, class of ’46, whose health had been de clining, and who passed away in June. I’m looking forward to Homecoming—Mom insisted I go, come what may. See you all then.” ❯ Sandy Klein Frum: “This year (May) marked the end of my 40 years of local public service, culminating in serving 12 years as president (mayor) of North brook, a 35,000 resident northern suburb of Chicago. It was simply time to pass the baton on to a younger generation of leaders. And, honestly, I had to deal with a lot of issues during all those years, but nothing like maneuvering through the ups and downs of how COVID affects a commu nity. Now, I’m able to spend uninterrupted time with my husband, Carlos, and our eight grand children—four here in Northbrook, two in New York, and two in New Zealand—well, when that country opens up and allows visitors again.” ❯ Doug Youngren: “I really appreciate all that you

Kusch ’71

do for our class. I was the 1970 class agent for four or five years after graduation, mostly writing fundraising letters that were printed and mailed out by the Alumni Office via USPS. No internet then, so I guess class notes also had to be snailmailed to Knox. I worked at the Alumni Office as my student job all four years at Knox, so I stayed on as a volunteer until, I guess, they decided they needed new blood. I’ll try to think of more news for me, though it’s hard to top our grandchild news from the last one. Might have to make up something.” ❯ Bob and Jan Eckardt Butler are now happy grandparents to two cuties who live in Mexico City. “COVID travel is hard, but by the time you read this, we hopefully have been down south to see them. We are all vacationing to gether in Tepotzlán, a Puebla Mágica south of the city. Our huge garden at home in Tulsa is forever producing. Thankfully, we are healthy enough to take care of it all.”

Class Correspondent: Nancy Hoover Debelius 865 Gayer Drive, Medina, OH 44256-2901, 330-723-5658, Knox1970@zoominternet.net

1971

Class griot Lynn Strand McIntosh (lynnmcwho@yahoo.com) and Mark ’72 con tinue to happily co-exist in his semi-retirement in Columbia, Missouri. Lynn writes that they “… can’t wait to meet up with all of our college alums in October, no offense, but it will be great to see anybody after this year! What a crazy, historical last few years, even more political than when we went to school. Our five sons and their families are spread throughout the states … we are ex cited to reunite soon. See you in the Burg!” ❯ Nothing new for Bob Fischer (rafischer1@ aol.com) who notes: “Life is boring, which is prob ably a good thing. Somewhat returning to prepandemic normal but taking it slowly (which seems the only way a septuagenarian should take things).” ❯ Like many members of our class, Lonnie Fredenhagen Schaefer (dandlschaefer@ yahoo.com) and husband, Dan, are enjoying travel ing to visit their three kids and their spouses, plus four grandchildren in St. Louis, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C. She writes: “The best part of our summer, though, has been running ‘Schae fer Camp’ when our grandchildren, ages 4, 6, 8, and 10, came to spend time on the farm in Amboy. ‘Chores’ include: driving the ATV while clearing trails; feeding Bey, the horse, and Char lie, the cat; helping Grandpa paint the boat; bak ing cookies; moving trees off the trails with the Case tractor ... fun stuff!” Lonnie retired in 2010. In 2014, they moved to Amboy, Illinois, from Kansas City, Missouri, their home for 40 years, to help their family on the farm. Lonnie takes care of her 96-year-old-father’s finances and social in teractions and oversees his health care while serv ing on the family’s corporate board of directors. Lonnie also sings and plays guitar on her church’s praise team and partners with the elementary music teacher in town to do some drumming ac

tivities with kiddos. Dan and Lonnie work with a land conservation group to rid forested land of invasive plant species. In her “spare” time, she tends to her flowering plants as well as veggies and cooks with what she grows. In between all that, she takes her Arabian mare on weekly trail rides with friends. ❯ Elliott Vizansky (evizan sky@gmail.com) retired after 33 years as a rent in formation officer with the New York State Division of Homes and Community Renewal where, he writes, he received numerous procla mations from New York City and state as well as from the U.S. Congress. ❯ Dan Barron (ztbar ron@gmail.com) and wife, Zoe, moved to North brook after 30 years in Wilmette. He retired eight years ago from the Northern Trust Com pany where he headed up the Family Business group and was privileged to retire as a senior vice president. Zoe is fond of saying that since retire ment Dan has not stopped smiling. Dan and Zoe vacation in the winter in Florida and spend at least 10 days each summer at a lake in Oklahoma. They also have a summer lake place in Illinois where they spend almost every weekend. In the fall, they can be seen cheering on the purple—but at Northwestern football games. ❯ Larry Kusch (twams67@comcast.net) finally did it! He writes: “After 55 years of trying, I recorded my first hole-in-one on Father’s Day at Willow Crest golf course in Oak Brook, Illinois. My wife, brother-in-law, and nephew saw the ball go in the hole, but I did not. I was too busy looking for my tee. I am a very lucky ‘blind squirrel’.” ❯ Rick Gleason (fcgleason@tgp-architects.com) is still in Boston and Mystic, Connecticut, where he and his wife, Ann, have a vacation house mysticseacap tain.com which they renovated. They are still practicing architecture, (but at a slower pace) and

Roger Strukhoff ’77 (left) and Stacy Womack ’77 (right) met in June for the first time since 1977.

are trying to sail as much as possible. ❯ Bill Ford (wrford49@gmail.com) broke the COVID rut by flying out to Gilbert, Arizona, to see the grand kids. He is playing plenty of golf and biking the Chicagoland trails. ❯ Great and well-earned news from North Carolina: Don Raleigh (draleigh@unc.edu) has been selected to receive the 2021 Distinguished Contributions to Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies Award from the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. This organization honors sen ior scholars “who have played a significant role in advancing the field through scholarship, training, and service to the profession.” Congrats Don! ❯ Ted Fagerburg (ted@fagerburg.com) reports that he and Francine are fine in Belgium and looking forward to the 50th this fall, “meeting old friends and making new ones.” ❯ Riley (roc@ rroconnor.com) and Meredith (meredith@ rroconnor.com) O’Connor report that “There are any number of things that have changed in the intervening 50 years, not to mention the last two. COVID isolation has not been too hard on us since we both like to talk with each other. Having plenty of reading material has helped signifi cantly. Not to mention a large number of model railroad projects that I can turn to. Between Amazon and eBay, many of our needs have been well met. We still venture out, especially since we are now both vaccinated. And the television not only works with the news channels, but also al lows for the viewing of movies and such. And the TV has an ‘off’ switch. Meredith has retired from the board of Peachtree Creek Greenway, Inc., an advocacy group which spurred the development of a walking/biking trail along the banks of the nearby North Branch of Peachtree Creek. The City of Brookhaven has built over a mile of this greenway, with an additional 11 or so miles left in four different jurisdictions. She has left the board in good hands. Riley has met several times with Sigma Nu brothers from the classes of 1970, ’71, and ’72. Meredith also has met with a group called the Deaf Turtles Society, a group of several Post Hall suitemates that formed up on a trip to Cumberland Island.” ❯ Life goes on here at the Tatar abode in Wilmette. We are expecting granddaughter #2 in September. If I knew how much fun having a grandchild is, I would have done that before I had children! Like everyone, our travel plans have been delayed—and we miss not being able to see our daughter who lives in Israel. Soon! Judy and I hope to meet up with her in Europe (Prague? Vienna?) and travel with her for a bit. I still play baseball—managing my 60+ team and catcher for my 65+ team—and am run ning a tournament at the Field of Dreams in Iowa. (Yep, it is heaven!) I’ve also been busy plan ning this little event in Galesburg October 7 –10, another slice of heaven! See you then and there!

Class Correspondent: Jerome A. Tatar 333 Wilshire Drive West, Wilmette, IL 60091-3151, 847-251-4889, jerry@tatarlawfirm.com

1972

Cush Copeland writes, “I have been time-travel ing—scanning hundreds of black and white nega tives I took and developed at Knox. I’ve been to men’s soccer games and on the bus that took us. I watched Flunk Day softball games and a messy mudslide. I’ve been in dorm rooms studying with my girlfriend and hung out in the brand new Umbeck Science-Mathematics building with my geology cohorts (RIP). Crammed into a U-Haul van with no seats, a bunch of us went to Wash ington to march in the April ’71 Moratorium. Mundane daily life during my junior and senior years living in McCall House was also on the itinerary. A couple of these I have posted to the knox72.com website.” ❯ Dion Cox Mercier writes, “After 46 years in Colorado Springs, I have moved to Westcliffe, a small mountain town in southwest Colorado. Time for a change, but Col orado has my heart. Always looking to build com munity and make a difference no matter where I am. If you get a chance, listen to Ed Sheeran’s song, ‘But What Do I Know.’ It is a good song for all generations! Can’t wait to see everyone. I promise this time I will be there!” ❯ Bob Fairbank writes, “Do you remember what band played with Alice Cooper? I think it was for our senior year homecoming dance. Was it Frijid Pink? Ya gotta love the ol’ internet. You can find ANYTHING on there. So … it was homecom ing junior year and yes … it was Frijid Pink, SRC, & Chase.” ❯ Sandy Hroziencik Thompson writes, “I am looking forward to next year’s Reunion. It will be great. We live in Austin, Texas, and I still teach math part-time. Teaching classes online for several semesters has had its challenges, but I’m hanging in there.” ❯ John Interlandi writes, “I retired in 2019 and now work in part-time practice consulting. My en docrinology clinic in Lebanon, Tennessee, has been selected as a teaching site for the Yale Uni versity nurse practitioner program. My other clinic in South Nashville involves teaching the NP there to do thyroid ultrasound, and we have recently started the first radio wave thyroid abla tion program in middle Tennessee. These activi ties have been flexible enough to allow me and my wife, Beth Compton Interlandi ’74, to spend several months a year with our grandchildren in Maine and to have long visits with our other daughter in Los Angeles. Beth and I spent the pandemic months cooking together and singing the oldies we learned during our Knox years. I continue to value and use my Knox science edu cation from professors Bob Kooser, Leland Har ris, Dr. Hebert, Dewey Moore, and Larry DeMott, all of whom provided me with one-onone teaching when I needed it.” ❯ Claudia McFadden writes, “If anyone is now traveling and find themselves in Tennessee, we would love to have them stay with us. Plenty of room. I am having my second hip replaced in a couple weeks. Then W and I would like to get some traveling in. Really need to get out to Portland to see

Stephen and family. Three years is too long. Same for Madison and Katy’s family. We will be in Illinois to visit with hometown friends and Sally ’64, who is having a class reunion. Hope to see my Chicago friends then.” ❯ Jim Rosenthal writes, “No news from me other than that I am retiring from my current job with Kaiser in early December. I would like to keep practicing medi cine, though; we’ll see what opportunities are out there. Hope to see you all in 2022 … it’s the weekend of my birthday!” ❯ Wendy Scherwat Ducourneau is looking forward to a road trip across the Southwest. She and Tony are excited to meet Barb McCauley Baumeister and husband, Jerry Baumeister ’71, for dinner at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. ❯ Al See writes, “When I graduated from Knox as a steel sculpture major, I had to leave the oxy/acetylene welding rig behind. After all, Knox owned it. But I promised myself that I would have my own before or when I retired. I am pleased to say I do now have one, and I am still making sculptures in steel. I have even branched out to Lexan plastic and wood.” ❯ Bob Shullaw writes, “I have something I’m excited to share: Danielle Mari Shullaw Filas ’93 and I had po etry and prose published through the National Writing Project’s StoryMap as part of the Writing Across America 2020 Virtual Writing Marathon. A series of weekly 90-minute Zoom meetings of fered participants short tours of different geo graphical locations, time to write, and a chance to share the writing in small groups. Danielle’s and Bob’s published works will also be included in the July issue of Louisiana Literature. Find Bob’s three pieces (“Bourbon Street,” “Ocean,” and “Fire”), and Danielle’s poem (“Ode to Bucket Man”) by exploring the StoryMap. Frankly, I’m in shock.” ❯ Bill Sowle writes, “I have been exploring the bi cycle routes of the U.S., starting in Wyoming and moving through Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois. Many have been Rails-to-Trails (railroad tracks removed and resurfaced into bicycle paths). So far over 500 miles on my new electric pedal-assist bicycle. The trails in West Des Moines, Iowa, have been some of the best. Along the way I have visited many interesting places: Fort Casper along Platte River in Casper, Wyoming, with a vital bridge crossing for the westward pioneers; the beautifully restored capitol building in Cheyenne, Wyoming; Scotts Bluff National Monument & Chimney Rock in Nebraska; as well as the famous Buffalo Bill’s Ranch & Golden Spike Tower that overlooks the largest railroad yard in the world in North Platte, Nebraska. Passing through Galena, Illinois, I toured the Ulysses S. Grant home and saw his impressive statue in Grant Park overlooking Galena River. The last few days bicycling the hills of the Lake Region of Wauconda, Island Lake, and McHenry. A great summer so far.”

Class Correspondent: Wendy Scherwat Ducourneau wjsd@jps.net, Facebook Group: Knox College Class of ’72

“I have been exploring the bicycle routes of the U.S., starting in Wyoming

Class Knox

1973

Our class responded to the question “What did you do first when things began to open up?” My husband, Clay, and I welcomed guests from Texas, with hugs and without masks! ❯ Debra Banks and friends visited the Art Institute of Chicago for the Obama portraits and the Bisa Butler portraits tours—both were outstanding and worthy of a second visit! She advises visitors to the exhibit to bring earphones to enjoy the Spotify music assigned to Bisa Butler’s pieces. Their group then had lunch at the Offshore Rooftop Bar at Navy Pier. ❯ Bob Bolier reports that life returned to normal a lot sooner in Florida, thanks to their great Governor Ron De Santis! They went out to eat, listened to music and danced, socializing and boating with vacci nated friends. All without the hassle of masks! And thank God the golf courses stayed open the whole time! ❯ Liz Brasure and Steve Giles now have a granddaughter to join her older brothers (ages three and five). They have made trips to Edina, Minnesota, and will continue to do so to help two working parents. ❯ Amy Dooha cele brates with live music on the weekends and every Monday evening! Proof of vaccination is required at some places, which is okay with her. ❯ Scot Drysdale and his wife drove from Hanover, New Hampshire, to Madison, Wisconsin, and Elgin, Illinois, to visit their daughters and to meet their new granddaughter shortly before her first birth day. She was wearing a shirt that said, “I have waited my entire life for a hug from Grandpa and Grandma.” ❯ Chris Eik Winick ventured “up north” to spend a few days in Leelanau County, Michigan, with Jan Vyn Sharry, Kathy Kruger Lindauer, and Kathy O’Hanlon to enjoy sailing, tasting wines and ciders, and just relaxing and catching up! Due to the pandemic, Chris’s son’s wedding was postponed last year and is resched uled for September 5, 2021. She plans to attend some parties as she looks forward to the BIG day in Chicago! ❯ Jane Goeltz Stetson had success ful foot surgery, even though it took two sur geons twice as long as expected. She says her chair and scooter are her best friends! Jane and Fran’s daughter, Emily, made a surprise visit to help with her post-surgery care. Before surgery, when partial restrictions were lifted, Jane re sumed her role as docent at the Denver Zoo, but by the time full restrictions were lifted, she was back to masking because surgery was looming. But best of all was being able to hug Emily! ❯ Jan Gulbis first rejoiced in eating a sandwich not prepared by her own hands. Then she took a drive not limited by the time she could be away from her own bathroom. Next, throwing caution to the winds, she flew to South Carolina for a beach vacation and then to Chicago to visit fam ily she had not seen in 17 months! ❯ Steven Kaufman enjoyed visits at their Florida home from four grandkids from Virginia. Steve had fun teaching the oldest granddaughter to drive their golf cart. Another memorable milestone was that

they were able to sign up for a cruise scheduled for November. ❯ Tom Kroupa and wife, Kim, will finally play in their Knox bridge group, which has continued for over 40 years. Current members deserve mentioning: Dave Weinberg ’75, Vida Adams Weinberg ’75, Al Heath ’76, Cindy Corso Heath ’76, Gail Sands Doescher ’75 and in memory of ADE “Crazy” Lou Moreth. Tom and Kim are still organizing out door workout classes, followed by all forms of re freshments. They believe they must keep fit and work out so they can eat and drink! ❯ Pete Loiselle’s first change in routine was attending social gatherings with more than five people. In July, he and his wife were nearing the end of a three-week road trip visiting national parks and, more importantly, having a week with their grandkids. Further trips are also planned, includ ing a memorial service for a cousin felled by the virus. He adds a heartfelt message: “We hope that those not taking adequate COVID care will not lead us into another period of horror.” ❯ In June, Kathy Kruger Lindauer, Christine Eik Winick, and Kathy O’Hanlon joined Janice Vyn Sharry in Northport, Michigan, for a mini reunion. They missed Diane Berquist Smith and Dotty Shaddle Larson this year due to family obliga tions. Jan says that she is slowing down and head ing for retirement at the end of the year. She has purchased an interest in the aforementioned house in Northport, Michigan, where she spent the month of June (and will hopefully return later this year). Jan shared the news that they lost their house in the Dallas tornado of October 2019 and have just completed construction of a new, smaller house on the same lot. Jan and her hus band, Mike, are gearing up for lots of travel start ing this fall and settling into their new lifestyle. She continues to serve on the Knox Board of Trustees and loves visiting the school, which she will do again in October. She and Mike have two wonderful grandchildren, Maggie (eight) and Grayson (four). ❯ At the beginning of the pan demic, Solveig Spellnes Spjeldnes accepted the retirement buyout option from work as an associ ate professor at Ohio University. This May, they celebrated her birthday and wedding anniversary in Hawaii. She is now looking forward to becom ing a city council ward representative in Athens, Ohio. In the meantime, they are visiting family members they haven’t seen since before COVID, including her grandniece, who will be two years old in July—Solveig has never met her in person. ❯ John Straus gives us something to think about for the next Knox Magazine. He asks: “What do you want to see or do at our 50th Reunion?” Class Correspondent: Nancy Bakos Hunter 5280 Easley Way, Golden, CO 80403-1161, 303-278-3163, geo_hunters@q.com

1974

Now that most of us are vaccinated, life for our classmates is looking more normal. Here is what they had to say: ❯ Allen Kossoy: “As with most,

this was a difficult year with the pandemic. I actu ally retired from active medical practice in Sep tember 2019 but months later came back to help with issues regarding the pandemic locally. I of fered services to New York City but was turned away due to age and recent heart surgery. My family was relieved. I have a couple of friends who did go, and catastrophic is an understate ment. My wife Beth and I were fortunate to re ceive vaccinations early, and we have been able to travel to see kids and our first grandchild, who is now 20 months. I certainly hope others have sur vived and are able to return to a semblance of normalcy.” ❯ Kathy Krause Winegarner: “Rod and I (and our greyhound mix, Maggie), moved to Cave Creek, Arizona, this past March. Rod’s family lives in the Phoenix area and he wanted to return (we both lived in the Phoenix area about 23 years ago) to be near them. Rod thought he was going to retire from his CFO position with Commonspirit Healthcare in Sacramento early this year, but he accepted a part-time position with them in Seattle. We are in the process of house remodeling and are trying to adjust to the heat.” ❯ John Porter: “Life continues to be good for me in Durham. My favorite bar, the Blue Note Grill, has resumed indoor bands and danc ing. I have a new girlfriend, a former Texas A&M basketball player, and my most recent prostate cancer check-up was perfect. Bicycle clients are coming out of the woods, so I am limiting it to my current neighbors and any friends.” ❯ Dave Coons: “Greetings. We still live in Chesterfield, Missouri. I retired from Emerson Electric after many years as a tax lawyer and lobbyist (federal, state, and local). We see our two children, Kate and Trevor, often and enjoy watching their chil dren, Tripp, Nora, Kaylin, and Kieran, weekdays during the summer months. I’ve become the principal chef of the household.” ❯ Richard Heitman: “I am now professor emeritus from Carthage College. A year ago, my wife, Heidi, and I moved to Phippsburg, Maine. The house is in a spruce forest beside an ocean cove. It was a lucky find and timed right to distract us from COVID woes. We have set up a ceramics studio for Heidi and a very comfortable library for me. I also dabble in ceramic sculpture and creative woodworking. I hope to be inspired to write poetry again, as I did at Knox.”

❯ Terry Bruner: “Prior to the pandemic, my husband and I travelled extensively. When the pandemic struck, we were in Sunnyvale, California, visiting family. Little did we know that Sunnyvale was pretty much the center of the California pan demic! We were fortunate to get a flight home and entered lockdown. We spent most of the time we were sheltering in place doing landscap ing and other small home improvements. I also started sewing—something I had not done since 8th grade. I am not much better than I was in 8th grade, unfortunately! We are well, survived the isolation, and were among the first in town to be fortunate enough to get our vaccinations. We are slowly getting back to ‘normal’ and are starting to

do some limited travel. We are grateful for our family and friends.” ❯ Steve Freese: “After Knox and completing my M.A. in economics and Ph.D. in marine studies, I helped manage domestic and international fisheries with stints in Delaware, Washington, D.C., and most recently, Seattle. I am entering my fourth year of retirement. I’m still trying to master my retirement courses: fit ness (skipped too many classes), literature, elec tric guitar, finance, community service, and communications. My wife and I replaced our rickety deck on our Hood Canal cabin, and we now comfortably watch the water go up and down over the oyster beds.” ❯ Fritz Ketchum (Mary Alice): “From 2012 to 2018, David and I lived in Austin Texas, where I concentrated on my work in professional theater. I guest-directed for numerous companies, winning awards for best di rection for a variety of productions. I appeared in numerous productions, including at Zach The atre (Equity). I also was a guest artist/director for Southwestern University Theatre Department in Georgetown. Due to downsizing at David’s Austin job, we had to relocate nearly four years ago to the northern parts of Dallas. I have been mostly teaching as an adjunct professor for Uni versity of Texas-Dallas. We both lost our jobs last spring during COVID. It took my husband a full year to find another position—luckily, the new job did not require us to move again. We built a home in McKinney and continue to work to wards retirement.” ❯ Peter Bailley: “I retired at the end of 2018 after 30+ years working for one of the best places (Knox College!) in one of the best fields (higher education!) Since then ... dodged COVID ... now grandkid-sitting, study ing interesting artifacts in the Knox College Archives, and self-teaching guitar—thanks to encouragement from Knox roomies Phil Malkinson, Rick Swartwout, and Bruce MacMurray.” ❯ David Usher: “I am not lazy in retirement. Supply-side socioeconomic policy is moving forward at Civitas Economic Engineer ing with legislation transcending the political di vide between Left and Right, and secular vs. religious. My model empowers each family and business to achieve the fundamental outcomes commonly desired via inexpensive and effective facilitative statutory tools. Empowering intersec tional interests are far stronger motivators of in dividual and community success, and natural cultural bonding than today’s divide-and-conquer punitive chaos caused by divergent cult ideolo gies presently driving public policy and law. I am having a good summer playing lots of music. I’m in two old-time bluegrass/folk/oldies/CW bands. I developed a new four-pick banjo technique that can play 12 styles interchangeably and do new things like rhythm for reggae tunes. I always hated banjo that had only one sound that never quits. We are getting rave reviews on gigsalad.” ❯ Marie Winters is getting ready to resume travel ing! She and her husband plan on vacationing in Colorado with friends, hiking and eating well. Marie has also joined the Education Advisory

”I’m logging about 8 to 12 miles of trail walking per

Committee, a global committee of senior invest ment professionals that advises the CFA (Char tered Financial Analyst) Institute on required curricula for CFA credentialing. As international travel returns more broadly, Marie is eagerly looking forward to meeting her fellow committee members in various cities overseas. ❯ We just re ceived word that Boyd Eliot Vieregge passed away on November 10, 2016. The son of Elvin “Jim” George Vieregge and Billie Louise Merry Vieregge, Boyd was born in 1952. After graduat ing from Knox College, he attended the Univer sity of South Carolina for two years and returned to the family farm after his father’s death. He worked at the State of Illinois Department of Children and Family Services as a child abuse in vestigator, retiring in 2003 after 25 years. He married Lida J. Merten in 1978. Boyd is survived by his wife, three children and five grandchildren. Class Correspondent: Monta Lee Dakin 303-979-9307, mld780@aol.com

1975

For most of us, it’s year #50 since our high school graduation. Did you participate in any related ac tivities? ❯ Gary Pokorn is on his school’s com mittee, which has postponed its 2021 celebration until 2022. “We are going to invite the classes ahead and behind our 1971 class to join us, so when we finally gather it will be quite a hoop-dedo! Speaking of ‘hoops,’ I plan to return to Knox for 2021 Homecoming and my annual ritual of attending the Knox-Lombard Athletic Hall of Fame dinner to congratulate the new inductees.” Gary continues, “Oracle plans for us employees to continue to work from home and on Zoom until calendar year 2022.” ❯ Lynne Barney Porter also got involved, working with a group of nine other women to plan a virtual celebration scheduled to take place on June 15. “My high school is the oldest and now only public, all-fe male high school remaining in the U.S. In 2019, we celebrated 175 years of existence.” Lynne con tinues, “I am enjoying retirement life and my five-year-old grandson. I raised two girls, so being with a boy child is a completely different experience but I am loving every minute of it. Pre-pandemic, I traveled often and am waiting to get back to that once the world is safer.” ❯ Dave Langston sends well-wishes and adds “COVID sucks—hoping to travel, travel, host visitors who are traveling, and lose my COVID 19+ lbs !” ❯ Nancy Butts Taylor writes, “I retired in June 2019 as chief strategy and leadership officer for the County of Riverside, California. Now my time is spent doing some consulting in leadership and organization development, playing golf, and rescuing labs. Life is full and fun! I hope every one is happy, healthy and enjoying a maskless summer.” ❯ Some classmates sent work-or-re tirement-related updates: ❯ Michael Lincoln: “Beginning 2021, I am officially retired as faculty in the School of Theater at Ohio University after the last eight years as director of the school and

18 years as a faculty member. I continue to serve as artistic director of Tantrum Theater, the pro fessional theater of the university. I also will con tinue my professional lighting design career but plan on more travel for enjoyment rather than work.” Michael adds, “It was really encouraging to see the strides that Knox made in the last 10 years under Teresa Amott, particularly the growth in the endowment. I look forward to the developments under Andrew McGadney, who seems like a great choice.” ❯ Paula Ochs writes, “I am still working (25 years now) as a family therapist at a small not-for-profit counseling agency in New Jersey where I am the associate clinical director. I also continue to work in my private practice teaching family therapy and psy chodrama, supervising, and doing therapy. I have been invited to attend a conference in Assisi, Italy, next June, and I can’t wait to pack my bags! Husband John and I love Italy and travel in gen eral. I sometimes think about cutting back on work, but I’m not quite ready to do that just yet.” ❯ Phil Thomason contributed, “As a sign of a re turn to normalcy, I attended my first in-person conference last week since the pandemic started. I was one of the speakers at the Keeping History Above Water conference in Charleston, South Carolina. I have been working with communities for several years on how to make their historic downtowns and neighborhoods more resilient to flooding and sea level rise. We got to visit a num ber of historic homes in Charleston which have been elevated anywhere from three to eight feet to get them above existing and projected flood levels. It felt great to go to a conference again and visit with friends and colleagues.” ❯ Other classmates sent leisure-related updates, like this from Nan Ward: “I retired from Caterpillar after 27 years, and husband, Don, and I moved to Nor mal, Illinois, in January and are enjoying mostly outdoor activities so far. I’m logging about 8 to 12 miles of trail walking per day and just bought a new bike so I could start riding the trails again. We also like to do a little swing dancing when there’s somewhere to go. I look forward to my high school 50th reunion in September. ❯ And this: “Joseph ‘Shep’ Crumrine here in Milwau kee. We were part of a 200-person masked audi ence at the final performance of the Milwaukee Symphony in their new home, the restored 1931 Warner Theater, the only remaining ‘Palace’ Theater in Milwaukee. Somehow all the art deco survived after being ‘dark’ for decades. We were also the only audience able to hear a large enough orchestra to do a Beethoven Sym phony—players all masked and on their own stands six feet apart (brass and winds did not have masks). We also attended the 50th anniversary Juneteenth Parade in Milwaukee on the first offi cial Juneteenth federal holiday. Finally, I plan to play in a string quartet—waltzes, jazz, and tan gos—on the roof of Charles E Fromage (that’s French for Chuck E Cheese), a wine and beer bistro later this summer.” ❯ Timothy and Valerie (Hiatt) Burke shared, “We are spending the pan

Class Knox

Nan Ward

demic breakout summer reconnecting with fam ily who are spread out from Asheville to Anchor age. Valerie spends a lot of time in her fused glass studio and I do the same thing in my music room.” ❯ Thanks, everyone!

Class Correspondent: Jeanne Pankanin jeanne.knoxfriend@gmail.com

1976

Greetings classmates! I hope you will be attend ing our 45-year Homecoming celebration in Oc tober. The big news is that the famous kazoo band will not make an appearance at the football game this year. We instead have decided to prac tice for five more years and make a grand appear ance at our 50th! ❯ Homecoming will still be great. Christine Ross Gould has promised to provide formulas for purple and gold beverages to liven up our celebration. We are planning a few get-togethers (details are evolving as this is written), and Mike Godsil is organizing a very in teresting panel discussion on Saturday at 4 pm of current faculty to talk about some interdiscipli nary programs for the 21st century. ❯ I received a note from John Hailperin who now resides in Long Beach Island, New Jersey. John would enjoy hearing from fellow classmates and is pleased to now be residing in his beach home. I also received a note from Mary Marselus Rosic Mary wrote that she and her husband, George, are blessed to have five grandsons, three in Col orado and two in New Hampshire. Mary has been retired from teaching kindergarten since June 2016. They recently drove from their home in Illinois to New Hampshire to deliver a new puppy to her son and his family. In Mary’s words, “We picked up the puppy on January 22 and drove for two days through freezing temperatures with a two-month-old puppy. We arrived without incident to deliver the puppy to a very grateful family.” Mary noted she survived COVID by weekly Zoom calls with two of her best Knox friends, Tammy Walker Myers and Frannie Ott Colby. “In this way the pandemic has brought us even closer. Tammy recently moved from the Galesburg area to Cheraw, South Carolina. Fran and I are looking forward to visiting her there.” ❯ During our COVID times, you may have noticed that people started cleaning closets and attics. This led to an even increased popularity of the radio show hosted by Tom Morgan ’78 on Satur day mornings in the Chicago area. Tom has run a sports collectible business for decades and his Saturday a.m. radio show discussing baseball cards and sports collectibles has become quite popular. ❯ I was in the St. Louis area earlier this year and saw classmates Craig Steele and Rick Truttmann. Both are doing well and joined many of us who attended a BBQ at the home of Ray Albertina ’79. Earlier this year, I attended the #Knox ProudDay virtual event with many of our fellow classmates. The event was a great financial success for the College as contributions soared on this day. And, it was lots of fun. There were

numerous classmates at our class event that was organized by Keith Maskus, Chris Ross Gould, and Ann Feldman Perille. Attendees included Jerry Erjavec, the famous chemistry major from Conger 2 (where Graham Woodward and Dave Farmer lived), Mike Godsil, who has taught sev eral classes at Knox and is currently teaching photojournalism, and Bill Wickart and Barb Epstien, who both reside on the West Coast, and Mike Widerschein and Rob Thornburg (famous residents from the Sellew dorm) plus Knox trustee and classmate Keith Maskus Tom Farrell was on the call as well and discussed his new book, which will be a prequel to his current book Wager Easy, and has been very well received by critics. ❯ I got a note from Ann Murray Smith. Ann recently had a nice visit with Steve and Sally Etheridge after they moved into their new house in Rockford, Illinois. Sally was gra cious enough to share dozens of perennials from her garden (the previous owner was a master gar dener), which Ann transplanted into the commu nity garden she co-manages in Racine, Wisconsin. Ann is enjoying her tenth year of re tirement, spending the majority of her time with five grandkids, gardening, quilting and relaxing at a cabin up north. Ann noted that she and her hus band just completed digging up the backyard for a perennial bed that will look spectacular in three years. Ann says hello to fellow ’76ers, who are in vited to stop in Racine on their next road trip around the southern tip of Lake Michigan. ❯ I heard (via Facebook) from Bill Wickart. Bill and his wife, Deb, have been quite busy battling Deb’s serious illness. They both have great attitudes and are continuing with their dance class during these rough months. Deb even completed her Ph.D. while going through her treatments. Bill still works in the constantly changing world of internal planning software and also does some AI work. He and Deb have had some recent inter esting trips in Oregon, where they reside and they are hopeful the enormous Oregon wildfires will soon subside. ❯ Yours truly did attend the fa mous Phi Delt Fiji golf outing this past June. This year, nearly 40 golfers attended—primarily Knox grads from the classes of ’75-’81. The Phi Delts finally found a way to not lose this year, as the golf event was rained out. Brian Sullivan ’79 (who works in the Hawthorne Woods area of Illi nois) attended the event this year, as did Glenn Schlichting ’81. Merlon Schuneman’s ’75 four some behaved the best during the rainout, so they got to bring home the beautiful first place trophy that may soon be the subject of a garage sale. ❯ That is all for now. Send me a note sometime to keep in touch, and I hope to see you in Galesburg in the fall.

Class Correspondent: George Pearce

1114 Forest Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091-1655, 847-256-5968, geoknox@comcast.net

1977

Hello all! I hope everyone has weathered the pandemic and is back to enjoying life with family

and friends. I had dinner last night with Rick Swanborg ’76 and his wife, Ann. They are split ting their time between Sarasota, Florida, and their home base in Cohasset, Massachusetts. Daughter Emily is getting married in September, and son Matt is doing well and recently got a work promotion. ❯ Roger Strukhoff will be a first-time grandfather by the time you read this news. Daughter Alexandra and hubby live in Hartford, Connecticut. Roger plans to speak at a public event “with real people in attendance” in October 2021—the first time since January 2020. He also reports: “Stacy Womack stopped by my place in DeKalb in June, and it was the first time since 1977 that we had seen each other! Stacy lives in the Nashville, Tennessee, area and was in Illinois to visit a grandchild and to see old Phi Delt and Fiji buddies. ❯ Bob Nordgren wrote: “All is well here, and I’m still working on retire ment one of these days. I am currently trying to sell two companies at once! My three sons, two daughters-in-law, two stepsons and adopted son are all doing well. I just bought a Ford Fairlane from my birth year in preparation for having nothing else to do!” ❯ From Maureen Fitzsimon: “Life is very good. I recently moved to San Antonio to be closer to relatives, after liv ing in Austin and attending the University of Texas. The last election was very interesting to me, from the perspective of my poli sci major at Knox.” ❯ Ron Presley’s oldest daughter, Elizabeth Bazan ’05, got in touch with the sad news that Ron passed away in May 2021 due to injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. Ron was a founder of the Knox Intervarsity Christian Fellowship chapter. He received his master of divinity in 1988 from Denver Baptist Theological Seminary after serving as an officer for seven years in the Wheat Ridge, Colorado Police De partment. He served as a senior pastor to three congregations in Texas, Iowa, and Illinois. In re tirement, Ron enjoyed gardening, home im provement, car repairs, finding deals on Craigslist, and playing with his grandchildren. ❯ Doug Hill says he retired, but I don’t believe him. If he really did, he set an office record of spend ing 38 years prosecuting state and federal cases. “I planned to spend my last month in office using up my vacation time but ended up on a four-week murder trial. Oh, well.” ❯ I had a visit with Ed Jepson recently, and he regaled me with the de tails of his new, upgraded speaker system for his already amazing stereo. As Mitch Baker ’76 and Brian Bond can attest, listening to our old All man Brothers, Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell and (insert your favorite album here) tunes while drinking a PBR at Ed’s is a near religious experi ence.

❯ Kathryn Nolte North got in touch: “Twenty years ago I became an ordained Lutheran minister, and I am now located in Oak Park, Illinois. Three years ago, we were putting a new roof on our church when a roofer’s torch started a fire that roared through the attic space. Fortunately, the fire department is very nearby and the few people who were in the building on a

weekday got out safely. Still, the entire interior needed to be restored, and we had to move to a rental space. The restoration took 20 months to complete, and three months before completion, everything closed down due to the pandemic. And, the insurance company is fighting us over the rebuilding cost. Still, I love what I do, as it has great meaning and purpose. And I love hear ing about what everyone is up to, although I rarely can make it to Homecoming because the weekends are busy for me.” ❯ I caught up with Kris Zamrazil on the phone. She recently made the big break from Austin, Texas, where she has been living since graduation, by selling her “per fect” house in Austin and committing to living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Santa Fe is smaller and is more of an artistic community, and it’s closer to hiking and the great outdoors that she loves. After six months of exhausting moves, she is looking to buy a place soon. ❯ Mitch Baker ’76 and his wife, Karen, have purchased some land in Oaxaca, Mexico, and are building a casa de retiro there. They recently rescued a litter of kittens in Oaxaca and drove back to Denver with them in tow, where they have found new homes. ❯ For those who haven’t heard, Dennis Gilbert shared that Tom Deets passed away in 2018. He is sur vived by his son, Ted, and former wife, Sherry.  Class Correspondent: Sarah Kaull 52 Ober Street, Beverly, MA 01915-4733, 978-810-0181, skaull@icex.com

1978

Thanks to Susan Hughey Walker for sharing that her oldest son, Zach, finally got married this July in San Diego! It was originally planned for 2020 but pushed to July 2021, two days before her 65th birthday! Her stepdaughter was married last Thanksgiving, so just that leaves her youngest son to tie the knot. She still loves working at Bank of America, so retirement is a few years away. Life is good! ❯ Also, thanks to John Luthy, who is making his new house his home with re modeling and an electrical upgrade to include a whole-house standby generator. Beyond that, he sees Bob Thompson periodically as he travels to the Chicago area to visit his mom, who is in an assisted living facility. He makes a point to stop and see Bill Anderson and Tom Morgan when ever possible on his trips up north. His grandson (now age two!) just finished his first “swim les son” class and apparently without fear jumped off the diving board! He has a feeling he will be a handful when he is older. Now that things are opening up, he has tickets to see REO Speed wagon and Head East (remember them playing at Knox?) as well as an excellent Led Zeppelin cover band called Get the Led Out. He also reports that Kim Estler is part of a group of scooter en thusiasts who are riding from Maine to California (which is 4,500 miles) and doing it in 10 days! Luth asked Kim to post on the class Facebook site: www.facebook.com/KnoxCollege1978 (which I did not know we had until just now—I am a little

Paul ’78 and Susan Haerr Zucker ’78 have decided to

behind the times on social media). ❯ Faith Miller says, “I’m going to Iceland with my entire family for a long weekend at the end of July.” She just found out they need COVID tests to return to the U.S. despite all being fully vaccinated, so one of their two days is going to be spent trying to do that. ❯ Chris Pogue Allison reports that she and her husband, John, have retired from teaching. John taught biology at the high school in Gales burg, and Chris taught at one of the junior highs. Their oldest daughter is living in St. Louis, teaching at Washington University, and getting married next August. Their youngest is living in Appleton, Wisconsin, and works in the alumni department at Lawrence. Chris still keeps in touch with many of her Knox friends, including traveling often to see Don Bonet, Norma Brit ton Bonet, Barb Andrae Baker, and Ed Baker. She passes on her greetings to all of the wonder ful people in the class of ’78! ❯ Paul and Susan Haerr Zucker have decided to become snow birds. Paul decided one day that he no longer likes cold weather, so they bought a condo in Florida. Paul and Susan plan to divide their time between Beverly Shores, Indiana, and Naples, Florida, starting in November. ❯ Tanna Cullen reports that, “We were blessed to welcome our first grandchild, William Prout, last October. He was such a bright spot in a difficult year of fur loughs and lock downs during the pandemic. His mother (Rachel ’11) and paternal grandfather (Bob Prout ’73) also attended Knox. Our oldest son, Timothy, graduated from law school in May, and we were able to attend in person. They al lowed a total of about 400 of us to be socially dis tanced in a huge stadium. Still, it was quite a highlight and proud moment for us, and we were grateful to be there. Finally, our youngest daugh ter, Rebecca, is expecting our second grandchild, due early October. We are thrilled to celebrate all our children!” Thanks, Tanna, for sharing and congrats on the great family! ❯ It was also great to hear from Tom Daker. His son got married last October and lives in Los Angeles. His daugh ter got married in June and lives in Lincoln Park in Chicago. Tom started playing a good amount of golf again along with tennis and now pickle ball. Great to hear that such a great athlete is back in the game! He says he is still living in Chicago and enjoying the White Sox success and the failed season of the Cubs. He plans to visit Knox this fall for a football game, and he will be spending some time in Palm Desert in January or February, and the month of March in Naples, Florida, the pickleball capital of the world. I am sensing a Naples, Florida, theme here. ❯ Tim Hays took time out of his hectic schedule run ning a manufacturing company near Pittsburgh to report that he is working hard managing their way through the pandemic, and he is finally be ginning to see a rising market in a couple of key customer bases. He says, “Like most people, we have been doing house and yard projects. The place has never looked so good as a result.” His oldest son moved back to Pittsburgh at the be

ginning of the year, and he and his wife gave birth to their first grandchild in March. Tim and Deb Gottfried Hays ’79 are excited to be grand parents for the first time and are very happy that they are now close by so they can watch the little guy grow up. Their son Matt is still living in As toria, New York City, and is working in banking. He will be starting an evening online MBA in August at Indiana University. His twin just moved to Columbus to take on a new job in sup ply chain management with a national retailer and to be in the same town with her longtime boyfriend. “Those long-distance relationships are hard, don’t Debbie and I know that.” ❯ As for me, I enjoyed seeing Fijis and Phi Delts for the Paul Brauer annual golf outing and was pleased that the Fijis managed a tie, despite a loaded Phi Delt team (rained out as it poured all day but we enjoyed some adult beverages in the lounge). I am looking forward to my first Colorado Knox Club outing in a few weeks outside Denver. Best to all and stay safe!

Class Correspondent: David Bates 121 W. Caramillo St.,Colorado Springs, Colorado 80907 dbates@foley.com

1979

Class Correspondent: Brian Sullivan bjpscruffy4@aol.com

1980

Dave Workman and his wife, Beth, have added another granddaughter to their growing family. In addition, the Workmans bought an RV and are traveling the country visiting national parks. Dave continues to run his own business adding an associate partner to help with his increasing client base. He would like to congratulate Annette Andresen O’Donnelly ’82 for her in duction into the Knox Hall of Fame and knows she would tell everyone it would not have been possible without Dave’s and Ed Eshoo’s ’82 coaching. ❯ Paul Greenwood writes that he and his wife, Tracey, stayed home like most of us dur ing the pandemic. Tracey (furloughed at the time from her part-time gig at Disney) did a lot of sewing: started with making clothes (tops, dresses, and skorts) by copying some of her fa vorite pieces, then moved to making masks, then taught herself some new art skills doing cutpaper art, drawing, and watercolors, then started her hand at digital art on an iPad. Paul worked a lot from home at the start of the pandemic and then on the University of Tampa campus. Golf was safe, so he played about once a week to keep from going bonkers. They also are excited about the new Knox president, Andy McGadney, and look forward to him and his family being at Knox. They knew the McGadneys in Maine, where they actually bought the Greenwoods’ house when they moved to Florida. ❯ Kevin Landgrebe reports that he published a book ti tled So you want to get an A in chemistry: Clear explanations, guided solutions, and tips to help you

Class Knox

become snowbirds.

succeed. The book is intended for high school and college students and for those studying for ad vanced placement tests. He wrote it in a very col loquial style with the hope that students will feel like they’re engaged in an office hours-like visit in which they get the most important facts and understand pitfalls for each topic. ❯ Jeff Cernek writes he has been happily living and working in Glenview with his wife since 1987. They have three adult sons who are now 28, 23, and 22. Jeff has been practicing law in Glenview in his own firm since 1985, concentrating on real estate and estate planning. In 2018, he started a rock band called the Wise Guys with some friends. Jeff plays lead guitar. They perform in Chicago area clubs and bars approximately two times a month, and he is having the time of his life. Maybe check them out! ❯ Meribeth Nudelman: “Hello from Grand Rapids, Michigan. In these difficult times, my family has been extremely lucky with jobs, no illnesses, and even a wedding. Both of my daugh ters live in London, England. My older daughter planned an extremely small, COVID-friendly wedding but, like the rest of the world, the rules kept changing, and she and her fiancé kept adapt ing. As of Saturday, October 31, those plans were for 13 guests on November 21. On Halloween night a lockdown was announced that would go into effect November 4 at midnight—and last at least until early December. Both daughters sprang into action and moved everything to Tuesday, November 3. Luckily my husband and I had planned to arrive on Monday, November 2, so we could quarantine. The wedding was held with 10 guests from two families and it was beau tiful, and then we quarantined! That’s my news.” ❯ George Eaton wrote to tell us he retired on July 30. Congratulations! ❯ Roy and Colleen are doing well in Austin. “We are enjoying babysit ting our grandson Grayson two days a week. He’s awesome! Took a long nice July 4th weekend to North Carolina and the Appalachian Trail for a family reunion. Really fun! Take care all.”

Class Correspondents: Roy Brandys

1818 Feather Nest Drive, Cedar Park, TX 78613-1414, brandys@barronadler.com

Joe Moore

773-848-5796, joe@joemoore.org

1981

Jane Strode Miller: “My time as Lily’s CEO is coming to an end as the company was acquired by Hershey’s in June. I am super excited to an nounce a new company I am co-founding that is focused on solving the chicken and egg dilemma for college students: you can’t get a job without experience and you can’t get experience without a job! We will be doing a pilot with Knox’s career center this winter term, so check us out at www.thehaevn.com.” ❯ David Brackman: “I have lived in Tampa, Florida, since January 1985. Be fore that, I worked at the Galesburg Register-Mail for three years until mid-August 1984, when I quit so I could go to Chicago and follow the

Cubs’ historic playoff run. (I went to every home game, including the two playoff games, often ac companied by George Graettinger ’84.) But that bitterly-cold winter, Rick Glazar ’78 and I packed up my Oldsmobile and moved south for good. I spent 10 years as a newspaper reporter at the St. Petersburg Times and later worked at a handful of other media outlets as a writer and ed itor. Later, I worked as director of public rela tions for the USISL pro soccer league and in a similar capacity at an online real estate company. I’ve been freelancing during the pandemic, but I am considering returning to a PR job for another five years or so before retiring. I’ve been married since 1994 to Sue, a redhead from Connecticut. Our only child, Danny (who is not a redhead), will be 25 in November. He graduated from Denison University, a Division III school in Ohio, in 2019 with a degree in economics. At Denison, he played on the varsity baseball team, compiling a 16-5 record with a 3.62 ERA as a (mostly) starting pitcher. Denison had never ap peared in the NCAA tournament until 2018 and Danny pitched in the NCAAs that year and again in 2019. He was named first-team all-conference in 2019. ❯ I was able to attend nearly 20 of Denison’s games in both of Danny’s final two years. Because he only played three years as an undergrad, he was recruited by Division I Ohio University to play while pursuing a master’s de gree in sports management. He appeared in five games for Ohio before the pandemic abruptly ended the season—and with it, his college career. Danny found a job with the New York Yankees; he has been working at their minor league com plex in Tampa since May 2021, with the goal of becoming a scout. Sue and I are very happy for him, although we anticipate the day that he moves out and we finally can return to empty nest status. I enjoy returning to Chicago every year to see Knox Fiji and Phi Delt friends for the Paul Brauer ’78 Golf Challenge, which marked its 10th year in June 2021. Looking forward to seeing everyone at our class’s 40th Reunion, which will also include a commemorative event to mark the 100th anniversary of the Knox Gamma Deuteron of Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) fra ternity chapter house on Saturday after the foot ball game.” ❯ Belinda (Morrill) Meader: “My husband and I have semi-retired to Tanque Verde, Arizona. Besides getting used to the very remarkable weather (110°+ dry early summer months and very humid torrential rains and flash floods of the late summer monsoon months), we are enjoying getting to know the wide-ranging wildlife of Saguaro Park East ... javelina, bobcat, mountain lion, pack rat, desert squirrel, rat tlesnake, roadrunner, and desert hare (besides scorpions, tarantulas, whip scorpions, camelback spiders, and “kissing bugs”) ... and yes, we have seen every single one of these on our property, as we neighbor the park. I can testify that the crit ters do not recognize park boundaries! In addi tion to our off-roading in our Jeep Rubicon (in Arizona and other places of the Wild West), we

are doing a bit of Tucson real estate on the side. It’s all keeping us young. We are big believers in life-long learning! If you recall, I was from Maine. When I went off to Knox, my parents would tell friends and family that I had gone ‘out west’ to go to school. It is all a matter of perspec tive, isn’t it?” ❯ Warren Krup: “I am in year two of chemotherapy for my cancer. The good news is that I’m still fighting. I’m tired a lot and have stomach distress (a nice way of saying diarrhea), but at least I have not been throwing up. Even though I was tired, I did complete a 60-mile bike ride several weeks ago. I was hoping to work up to a century ride this summer, but the 60-miler left me badly exhausted for over a week. So that will be my long ride until I am past cancer treat ments. Grandchild #10 was born to my son and his wife. Michael Krup came into the world with a smile on his face. He is a content baby, does not cry much, and is greatly loved by his three broth ers. Eight of my 10 grandkids live within 40 minutes, so we get to see them frequently.” ❯ Annette Johnston: “I have retired from Abbott Laboratories, and started my own small contract ing/consulting firm. I am the first employee. AAJ Project Consulting provides project managers for technical and validation projects for life sciences companies. I’m looking forward to seeing every one at Homecoming this year.” ❯ Steve Tatge:

“Not a lot of news to report—very happy to be fully vaccinated and returning to something like normal! I have a new interim position as associate vice president for asset management, still at the University of Washington, and likely will know if that’s permanent by the time this is published. I lead the delivery of all capital projects, in-house engineering services, capital project planning, de sign oversight, and the sustainability office. Oth erwise, in what little spare time I have, I spend as much time on my bike as I can, including a chal lenging 220-mile bike-packing ride mostly on gravel in Eastern Washington over Father’s Day weekend. I’ve again taken the guitar up after about a 39-year hiatus, which I guess is what you do at our age. Cheaper than a sports car, and it’s definitely my happy place. Luckily, I have a spouse who likes her alone time! Hope you and family are all well!” ❯ John Nicolau: “After sell ing our IT consulting company to a large, global company in 2018, I knew they’d eventually want me out. So rather than be pushed, I beat them to the punch and left at the end of June to join an other firm with a practice focus and a culture more suited to my skill set. While I still believe there is plenty of fuel still left in the proverbial tank, I’m grateful to have such an opportunity in the twilight of my career. My wife celebrated her 40th anniversary as an ICU nurse in early July with the same hospital system and plans to con tinue working, at least for a few more years. We are very fortunate that all four of our adult chil dren live within 30 minutes of our home here on the North Shore of Chicagoland. Three are mar ried and we welcomed our second granddaughter in May. Everyone is healthy and gainfully em

ployed. Look forward to seeing fellow classmates in Galesburg this fall for our 40th Reunion.” Class Correspondent: John Nicolau 930 Huckleberry Lane, Glenview, IL 60025-2302, 847-657-6311, j.nicolau@comcast.net

1982

Lots of news from the class of ’82. Thanks to all who contacted me to share their stories! ❯ Con gratulations to Cindy Wilson for receiving the Dawn Clark Netsch Award for Public Service from the Northwestern Law Alumni Association. The award recognizes alumni for exceptional ca reer achievements and government service or public interest. This news was sent to us by her proud father, Professor Doug Wilson. ❯ Our condolences to Sharon Schillereff on the loss of her father, Herb Schillereff. ❯ From Karl Ben son: “Our pandemic story might be slightly off center from what we all read in the news. My wife and I are partners in a small culinary busi ness—www.cooksofcrocushill.com in Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota. We’ve been at it for 23 years. Cooking schools, culinary retail, eComm, crop shares, private events. Pandemic. We closed March 16, 2020, and furloughed 106 employees. The five leaders formed a bubble of immediate families and each other, that was it. We worked seven days a week to keep things in place. E-com merce took off. Reduced re-openings May, retail only. George Floyd. Riots, looting, National Guard, mayhem. Closed again. On July 13, 2020, we opened a pop-up bakery in our Minneapolis location. Schools were still closed. On July 16, our bakery partner closed his restaurant and bak ery. On July 17, we committed to hiring his bak ery team and building our own bakery, and we opened Bellecour Bakery at Cooks on September 17, 2020. Schools were still closed. We survived the holiday season 2020, and the bakery contin ues to accelerate. Steady return of retail business and clients. Supply chain nightmares. Customers, terrible inventory levels. May 28, 2021, the mask mandated lifted, schools can reopen, back to full capacity. On July 13, 2021, we opened a bakery in our Saint Paul location. Booking event business starting September 2021. Business is coming back. Feeling so appreciative. Still happily mar ried, tired and hoping to get back to a five-day work week!” ❯ Congratulations to Constance Pilkington who says: “After 35+ years of teach ing, remote teaching took the last joy out of being a professor for me: connecting personally with the students. I guess Knox still runs through my veins. So I retired from William & Mary in August 2020. I’m still getting used to that word and will most likely never get used to the fact that I’m (we are) old enough to retire!” ❯ Kate Gingold writes of new opportunities: “After many years with no big changes, husband, Don ’81, and I are finally making a big change. We just put our home of 30+ years up for sale and trust it will be sold by the time the next Knox Magazine is pub lished. We raised our kids in Naperville, Illinois,

and started our business here, but with the ‘kids’ and their respective spouses settled in their own homes, a big house doesn’t seem right for us any longer. We’re not retiring, but both our web de velopment business and my writing are portable, so we look forward to traveling with our laptops. Maybe we’ll be snowbirds. Maybe we’ll drive an RV. We’re still figuring it out! I’ll miss the com munity and my garden, but we’re looking for ward to new adventures. We spent the COVID year fixing up the house and working from home, which we’ve done since 1996 anyway, and we took advantage of even barely nice days to visit family out-of-doors and socially distanced so we weren’t too lonely. Everyone stayed healthy and we’re eager to do something different this year. Hope all is well with the rest of the class of ’82. Can’t believe our 40th is just around the corner!” ❯ And from Fred Reifsteck: “I will complete my 19th year in December at the University of Georgia Health Center in the sports medicine clinic. I also serve as the head team physician for the Athletic Department. In 2020, I was awarded the SEC (Southeastern Conference) Team Physi cian of the Year award. With the pandemic, I only received the award this year. The pandemic year made for a difficult time keeping the teams healthy enough to compete. On a personal note, I remain happily married to my wife, Joyce, and we will celebrate our 33rd anniversary in December. I have one son, entering the 9th grade this year, Fred Reifsteck IV.” ❯ A quick note from Greg Bird said that he and his family are fine—includ ing his two Knox graduates, John ’15 and Lauren ’17. The legacy goes on! ❯ New career announcement from Lisa Dupras: “After 16 years at Merck as an HR IT account manager, I’m retiring in July! Rich ’83 has graciously agreed to keep working for the benefits. I’m going to be starting my own part-time business as a career coach, and I’ll be focusing on millennials like us who retire and are looking for fun, inter esting second careers. Interested Knox alums, call me!” ❯ And last, a big congratulations to Annette Andresen O’Donnelly on being in ducted into the Knox-Lombard Athletic Hall of Fame! ❯ Tim and I are glad to be vaccinated and out of hibernation. Looking forward to seeing you at Homecoming, Class of ’82!

Class Correspondents: Sharon L. Schillereff 7780 W 38th Ave., #404, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033, 303-885-7185, Sschil7470@yahoo.com

Chris Bohm Gavlin

4246 Howard Ave., Western Springs, IL 60558, 708-246-1419, cgavlin@gmail.com

1983

Hope everyone is enjoying 2021. Andrea Selymes Kolczynski reports that she has moved to Texas to be near her grandchildren, and her mother is now living with her and her husband. A multigenerational experience for all involved; congrats to Andrea. ❯ Rose Martin Schneider lives in Tucson and was hoping to see Cindy May

Schmidt, but COVID prevailed. They will plan another trip soon. Rose’s high school daughter, Emma, keeps her busy, and the Schneiders will be a host family to an exchange student from Chile this fall. Sounds exciting and what a wonderful commitment to promoting positivity! Between Arizona White Sox spring training games and a trip to the All Star Game in Denver, Rose had a stellar year for her baseball fandom. Rose and her family spent three weeks traveling throughout the northwestern part of Costa Rica. Rose and her daughter went to a Spanish immersion school for a week in Monteverde. Costa Rica is a beauti ful country and the people are so friendly, Rose reported. ❯ Did you know our class has a Face book page? It’s an easy and timely way to keep up with your classmates and to prepare for our 40th reunion in 2023. I will share Knox-related up dates, so it’s doubly helpful to join us there on Facebook. Simply search for Knox Class of 1983 ❯ If you have any updates, no matter how small, please email me with your news.

Class Correspondent: Beth Anderson Schuck bschuckgal@gmail.com

1984

Class Correspondent: Valerie Jencks

P.O. Box 825, Downers Grove IL 60515, knoxcollege84@gmail.com

1985

Hello classmates! It’s hard to believe that most of us started at Knox exactly 40 years ago. In Sep tember 1981 we lined up for our first Knox Pumphandle, we registered for freshman precept in-person (back then, online registration meant lining up in the hot gym), and we set up our records, cassette tapes, and typewriters with our freshman roommates who continue to be close, lifelong friends today. ❯ We are always happy to hear from you! Gioconda Cabalceta wrote, “I am working for Amazon in the fraud department, surviving pandemic times, longing for tourism to return. My daughter, Crista, 26, is in medical school and my son, Santi, 24, is into the arts.” (In normal times, Gioconda gives extensive tours of the Costa Rican rainforest.) ❯ Dale Dilworth wrote, “Well, new for me, and perhaps a high in my career, was being asked to be the commence ment speaker this year for the class of 2021 in Cuernavaca of the American School Foundation of Mexico City. This was in front of an audience of 600 people and 300 on livestream. I’ve also started teaching an elective there called Compar ative Film and Novel Study, that looks at the choices made when going from the written form to the big screen. This will be my sixth year living in CDMX (and 16th year in Mexico) with my wife and two children.” Congratulations to Dale! ❯ Julia Di Liberti wrote, “Hi, everybody, it has been a while since I’ve shared any news. I just fin ished a year-long EPIC (Education Partnership for Internationalizing Curriculum) fellowship with Stanford University, creating an eight-week

“I’m going to be starting my own part-time

Class Knox

a career

course on globalization for faculty and staff. To my surprise, nine colleagues signed up for the course, and five are regularly attending (as we know, faculty are the worst students). This past January, I became the interim president of the Illinois Community College Faculty Association (ICCFA), an educational advisory board that rep resents all 48 community colleges in Illinois. If you work at a community college in Illinois or know someone who does, have them contact me; I want to rope them into serving. For summer fun, I’m serving as a docent for the very amazing Frida Kahlo show that is currently at the College of DuPage. (What? How did WE get this show … short version: One of the people instrumental in founding the College of DuPage [where I work] was friends with the son of one of Diego Rivera’s mistresses. If you’re exhausted by that sentence … well, just come and see the show). Last week, two friends and I went on a scavenger hunt in Naperville, Illinois, and ended up at the Dick Tracy statue there. The last time I saw that statue was with Robin Carre when he and I spent a day together knocking around doing nothing. Needless to say, Robin is often on my mind, but last week I got to introduce him, again, to two non-Knox friends, telling stories about him that still make me laugh. I still have a stupid cheap-ass dish scraper that I picked up that day that Robin and I spent together: We went into the over priced kitchen store to look around and I picked up this really useful piece of plastic that I use dang near every day, so Robin hangs out with me on a regular basis as I see it. I see Paul Steenis less than I’d like, having only intermittent Face book contact with him. Two years ago, I took a continuing education ukulele class at the school where I teach and, when I walked into the class, the instructor turned out to be Todd Volker! He was excellent, funny, and unflappable. And in two years, I’ve learned to play … uh, four … yes, I think I have four … songs on the uke by mem ory! Every two weeks, though, I get together with a group of friends to exchange music, poetry, writing, and scenes from plays. Ed Janosky should be looking soon for his invitation to join us. Laura Bond Young and Maura Shea ’84 are back in my life. Laura is still practicing psy chotherapy in New York and handling her Airbnb in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. Patricia Bereck Weikersheimer ’86 finally read a short story I recommended to her three years ago on Face book. We both delighted in it: Saki’s “The Stalled Ox,” so if you want a good laugh and a nice bit of satire, check it out. Lisa Crank and I exchange voice messages occasionally and I dropped off some cookies once or twice for her during COVID. Mark Penn, after having done locum medical stints in Guam, for an Arizona prison, and in New Zealand, has landed in Cathedral City, California. He continues to practice medi cine and regales me with amusing medical anec dotes. I’m planning on going to see him over my winter break and to make sure his toilet paper roll is properly set up … with the under method

NOT the over. That’s right. You all read that cor rectly; call me a radical if you will, but there it is. Finally, (I’m sure you’re glad to read that word, “finally”) I now live with a cat. And yes. Yes in deed. I’ve gone off the cat-obsessed-cliff. I’m enjoying the fall immensely.” Thank you, Julia, for your news and for bringing a smile! ❯ Lee Wooley writes: “After 30+ years working for the Northern Trust Company and BNY Mellon, I’ve recently been asked to join Metallicus, the hold ing company for a cryptocurrency company that is attempting to become the first federally char tered, FDIC-insured cryptocurrency-oriented bank in the United States. Working with digital assets, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain technol ogy are a major change from my prior experience as president of the mid-Atlantic region for BNY Mellon Wealth Management, but I’m enjoying the challenge and appreciate the ability to work from our home along the Yellowstone River in Gardiner, Montana.” ❯ Friends, I am closing with a few words in memory of our classmate Alene Lesniak Ackerman. I was heartbroken to hear the devastating news of Alene’s passing last November 2020. All who knew Alene couldn’t help but love her. She was selfless, funny, smart, and one of the kindest persons I have ever known. To honor Alene’s memory her wonderful husband, Mark ’84, and daughter, Natalie, sug gest a donation in Alene’s name to Ronald Mc Donald House Charities (RMHC), 1301 22nd Street, #905, Oak Brook, IL 60523. (Please keep Mark and Natalie [and Alene’s parents Tom & Rene] in your thoughts and prayers.) ❯ Please send us your news and stay well, cherished class mates. Fondly, Margaret Class Correspondents: Margaret VerKoulen Lynn mvlynn@comcast.net Jane Davis jedavis_ill@hotmail.com

1986

Class Correspondent: Susan Bantz

2012 Shady Lane, Muscatine, IA, 52761, 563-554-9213, sbantz001@luthersem.edu

1987

Class Correspondent: Lisabeth Simms Belman

12701 York Mill Lane, Clarksburg, MD 20871-4034, 301-972-3751, lisabeth1208@verizon.net

1988

Hello, Class of ’88. I am our new class correspon dent. A huge “thank you” to Gayle Pikrone Richardson for being our class correspondent for the last few decades. I am excited to step into this role and to reconnect with you and help oth ers get reconnected as well. Being our class corre spondent is something that I have been thinking about for a few years. Now that my two kids are young adults and the commitments to their many

sports schedules are significantly reduced, I have the time. I created a Facebook group for Knox Class of 1988. Thank you to those who have al ready accepted and please forward to fellow class mates. ❯ Knox connections are everywhere. In October 2004, I started working in internal audit at Hewitt Associates in Lincolnshire, Illinois. In a short amount of time, I learned about revenue processes from Sue Rasbid and worked on test scripts with Cameron Bassett. A couple of years later, Catherine Kirk was in our office, a recent hire in HR. In 2021, Sue, Cameron, and I con tinue to work together. We instant message each other on Flunk Day! Please share your random Knox alumni connection! My email address is tracydb531@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from all of you.

Class Correspondent: Tracy Dahlen Brandon TracyDB531@gmail.com

1989

Class Correspondent: Mia Jiganti 1850 W. Cortland, Chicago, IL 60622-1035, 773-278-0814, mjiganti@prodigy.net

1990

Dorothy (Dara) Kozlowski: “I have recently been awarded the Chicago Society for Neuro science Career Achievement Award for my work in neuroscience teaching, research, and outreach. The award was given at the virtual annual meet ing held on April 8. The link is here: chicagosfn.org/annual-meeting/chicago-chapter-2021virtual-annual-meeting/2020-2021-career-achieve ment-award/. This wouldn’t have been possible without the introduction to the field of neuro science that I was given by Dr. Heather Hoff mann during my undergraduate years.

Class Correspondent: Darcy Turner 108 West James Street, Warren, IL 61087919-932-9150, Bonetbien1@gmail.com

1991

Class Correspondent: Jonathan Sheinkop 260 Cary Ave, Highland Park, IL 60035, jonathansheinkop@hotmail.com

1992

Class Correspondents: Celine Gura Matthiessen

6417 Marlar, The Colony, TX 75056-7119, 469-384-1805, celmatthiessen@hotmail.com

Tammy Thorsen Ragnini

912 S. Summit, Barrington, IL 60010-5057, 847-382-4022, rragnini1@yahoo.com

1993

Dan Rosenberg: My wife, Debbie, and I cele brated our 25th wedding anniversary on June 16, 2021. We continue to live in Highland Park but now have a weekend apartment in the John Han

Wendy Paulsen ’95 enjoys her job in organic certification most

cock building. We’re hoping to eventually move back to Chicago full time, so this is a start. Our older son, Jonah, will be a senior at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania in the fall where he’s studying political science and international rela tions. Our younger son, Evan, will be a senior at Highland Park High School in the fall, and he’s deep in the college search. Debbie is a student advisor and Spanish professor at Northwestern University, now in her 16th year there. I continue to write about the financial markets for a major brokerage firm, a job I’ve had for more than five years. It’s very rewarding because it suits my dual interests in finance and writing. Hope to see you all at our 30th Knox Reunion in a couple of years! ❯ Brenda Gregoline: Brian Begy and I continue to work from home in ye olde Chicago bungalow (separate offices, thankfully). My job in medical publishing has been very busy for obvi ous reasons, and Brian’s software developer team is always busy as well. Patio drinks around the firepit at quitting time have been essential this spring and summer. Our kid leaves for college (civil engineering) in August, and we are prep ping for that, as well as planning a trip to Istanbul and Athens in the fall. Anything to help distract me from the empty nest—it will be weird after over a year of Extreme Family Togetherness. Brian recently spent a weekend at Doug Domenick’s Michigan farmhouse, along with Ben Hirby and Brian McKeough and came back full of steak and beer and bad jokes. ❯ Danielle Shullaw Filas: I’ve got some kinda cool news!

My dad Bob Shullaw ’72 and I did a pretty neat thing last summer during lockdown. I’m a teacher consultant for the National Writing Proj ect (NWP), which organized “Write Across

America 2020.” It was a regular Zoom meeting visiting a different city in the U.S. each week. The NWP folks in each city set up interactive story maps with photos, videos, sound files, po etry, essays, and writing prompts. Participants jumped into breakout rooms, met three or four other writers, talked a bit … and wrote! Then participants shared writing and talked about the process of writing before popping back in the big Zoom room to listen to selected works and sign off. I knew my dad was going a bit stir crazy at home, and even though we now live only an hour from one another, COVID kept us physically apart. So, I invited him to come write with me and he did! We wrote together all summer, and we are both participating again this summer in 2021. The most exciting part is that Write Across America published some of the work dad and I produced during that time. They published one poem I wrote and three pieces of dad’s. (Show off. And he’s not the one with a writing degree from Knox!) For details about the pieces being pub lished in the latest edition of Louisiana Literature, check out his entry in the Class of ’72. ❯ In addi tion to that news, I’ve not a ton to report. Tim and I enjoy our new place in Texas (ice and heat aside!) I’m also keeping up with Jen Brown ’94, Melissa Agar, Craig Choma, Deb English Kaczorowski, and Peter Brown via an ongoing group chat. I keep in contact with fellow Texan Sree Yedavalli, as well. It’s great to be in the same state again! We’ve been able to see each other a couple of times already. All is well. I hope all is well with you and with the rest of the Knox Community, too. Anne Swanson decided to change up her life and move to Denver, Col

orado, during the pandemic where she’s embrac ing the mountain lifestyle. She’s excited to join the Colorado Knox Club and connect with class mate Katie Dalpes Thomas. Anne continues her 4th year working for Feeding America National Organization, leading a small team that connects potentially wasted produce, protein and dairy products from farmers/processors to food banks across the country. ❯ Maxine Jeremiah: I would like to share that I have recently been named the principal of Lindop Elementary School in Broad view, Illinois. I am excited about the opportunity to work with my new school community to pro vide a world class education for students! ❯ Jean Anderson O’Brien: As the big 5-0 ap proaches, I have enjoyed connecting with a few more Knox alumni and fellow milestone-achiev ers everywhere. I hope you all are looking for ward to the second half of adult life with enthusiasm, feeling like you are way better pre pared for this part! (I definitely am.) ❯ Class mates, many of you who were at the 25th Reunion will remember meeting Jean’s husband and son. Sadly, her husband passed away recently. We share in her sorrow and also her optimism for the future. ❯ I’m approaching four years in Pennsylvania. In the fall, my oldest two sons will be students at Penn State and my youngest son will be in high school. As a result of the pandemic I’m now working from home permanently—so while I’m trying to savor every moment of the next four years, I’m also dreaming of all the places I can work when I’m an empty nester.

Class Correspondent: Rebecca Gillan rebecca.m.gillan@gmail.com

Angela Schultz ’98 snapped a picture of Chad Tolson ’97 and their mutual friend after he relocated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to teach hot yoga this past year.

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Gavi Rosenthal ’98, and Sherry Sullivan Malone ’98, enjoyed a mini-reunion in Chicago this summer in Gavi’s backyard.

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Angela Schultz ’98 took this picture, while she and Kara Van Kirk Levin ’97 and Brita Reed ’98, spent an afternoon relaxing on Kara’s patio.

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Class Knox

of the time.

1994 Class Correspondent: Lisa Preston-Hsu 217-649-7889, story.of.a.kitchen@gmail.com

1995

Wendy Paulsen enjoys her job in organic certifi cation most of the time, but even more, she ap preciates that she’s been able to do four to five trips per year to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) for the last few years “and now am about to take off on our first women’s BIPOC trip!” She and two friends are taking two women of color who have never been to the BWCAW to experience one of the most beautiful places on earth! “We are hoping to do a small part of making the world more open to people of color.” ❯ Margo Martin writes, “I have been living in France for a few years in a leadership role at an international school. While France will always be my home, I am off to a new leadership role as an academic principal at a PBL school in Kazakhstan. I am so excited, as I will learn a third language: Russian. Please email if you would like to reconnect lrmargeaux@ gmail.com. Pray for the Lord to bless me in my new endeavor.” ❯ Mimi Doyle Russell will be starting a new position as an elementary technol ogy teacher this coming school year. She will be a lot closer to home (10-minute drive vs. 40 min utes), and she is excited to start this new adven ture. Her husband still works at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Her daughter, Lily, will be a senior in high school and her son, Artie, will be a freshman.

Class Correspondent: Rev. Nicole Havelka defythetrend@gmail.com, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram: @revnhavelka

1996

Class Correspondent: Kathryn Dix Biallas 1418 East Colter Street, Phoenix, AZ 85014, 602-944-7466, kathybiallas@gmail.com

1997

Class Correspondent: Chip Chandler knoxclassof97@gmail.com

1998

Even though I’m writing this in August, I can al ready sense fall creeping its way onto the scene. The grass is not so green anymore, my kids are looking forward to in-person school, my veg etable garden is just about doing the work for me, and I’m wearing a hoodie to stay warm in the backyard on a lovely cool evening! This past summer at Northeastern Illinois University, I taught one of the first in-person lab sections since going remote due to the pandemic. It felt good to have students back in the labs, and I think they were glad to have the opportunity for hands-on activities. After a long-awaited visit with my little sister, Heather Sanchez ’03, she joked that she’s only one or two good visits away from a full recovery from accumulated pandemic related social deficits. From the updates that came in, I can tell that the friendships built at Knox are lifelong, and that now, more than ever, it feels good to connect with old friends. ❯

Sherry Sullivan Malone and Gavi Rosenthal have been able to meet up twice in the last two years—once in Bangkok and once in Chicago. Gavi continues her work with USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, which brought her to Bangkok in November 2019, while Sherry was there at a job conference. Sherry and her husband Micah and dog, Dolly, have moved out of inter national teaching after a decade and now are set tled in Portland, Oregon, where Sherry is a principal of a K-8 school. Gavi lives in Chicago with her dog, Edie, working on disaster response around the world. This summer, Sherry visited Gavi, and they reunited with Amy Hennessy and Mark Stiglitz and completely forgot to take a group photo, but they all attest, “ … we all look exactly the same as we did in 1998!” ❯ Angela Schultz checked in to report that she had a great visit with Kara Van Kirk Levin ’97 and Brita Reed ’01. Plus, she connected with our good friend Chad Tolson ’97 who has relocated to Milwaukee where he’s teaching hot yoga! ❯ Autumn Anderson sent kind greetings and this update: “I moved to the high desert of Southern California at the beginning of 2021, a little out side Palm Springs. It’s such a different experience to live in the desert after living my whole life in the Midwest. I’m loving hiking in the nearby mountains and experiencing the new plants and creatures (there are really bears here!).” ❯ Kathryn Moakley wrote in from the Pacific Northwest: “I’m enjoying life in Eugene, Ore gon, with my husband, kiddos, and cat, Nickel. I’ve spent the year tending to my obligatory sour dough starter and looking forward to working in an office outside my house again. I hope everyone is well, and look me up if you’re in the beautiful PNW.” ❯ Phillip Mottaz just completed a cozy

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Autumn Anderson ’98 with Lindsay Hansen Brown ’98 and Lindsay’s husband in Big Morongo Canyon Preserve on a recent hiking adventure.

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Sarah Atkinson Custis ’98, Rosalie Warren Yezbick ’97, Stephanie Detterline ’98, Jennifer Carey Anderson ’98, and Jocelyn Slowey Gelineau ’98 at a beach week reunion on Oak Island Beach, North Carolina.

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Stephanie Detterline ’98, Dave and Sarah Atkinson Custis ’98, Jocelyn Slowey Gelineau ’98, Jennifer Carey Anderson ’98, Rosalie Warren Yezbick ’97, and their families at a beach week reunion on Oak Island Beach, North Carolina.

mystery titled The Murderous Haircut of the Mayor of Bel Air, and says “it’s the first in my Psychic Barber mysteries series. It’ll be available every where except for Amazon. Rachel ’99 and I live in Sun Valley and have for the last four years. She’s now a lead kindergarten teacher, and after struggling through distance learning in 2020, she’s been in person with the kids for the last couple months. And our son, Henry, will turn 12 in August and will enter 7th grade next year, which seems impossible. ❯ Stephanie Detterline sent news of an amazing summertime reunion of longtime Knox friends: “AJ and I are doing well, keeping busy in Baltimore. I’m still with MedStar health, based in Columbia. Mary land. I just moved from being a program director of our internal medicine residency to being the chair of medicine at two of our hospitals in Balti more. It certainly is a change of pace and I’m learning a lot of new things. Lots of people man agement! I still keep in touch with many of my old Knox friends, particularly those Pi Phi sisters that I formed friendships with many years ago. We just had a family beach week at Oak Island beach in North Carolina with Dave and Sarah Atkinson Custis, Jennifer Carey Anderson, Rosalie Warren Yezbick ’97, and Jocelyn Slowey Gelineau I’ve also been trying to keep up with Knox sports, especially cross country and track and am supporting the women’s program in general.” ❯ Congrats on all the wonderful con nections we have made this past year, and I’ve got high hopes for many more great updates of our class having fun together! Keep up the great work, friends!

Class Correspondent: Kip Conwell kipconwell@gmail.com

Aaron Willits ’08 became the head football coach at

1999

Class Correspondent: If interested in serving as the correspondent, please contact Jennifer Gallas at jgallas@knox.edu.

2000

Jaclynn M. Jutting had an article published in Theatre Topics, the November 2020 issue, entitled “Teaching the Young Director to Cast Inclu sively.” Congratulations!

Class Correspondent: Jennifer Parker parker_jen78@yahoo.com

2001

Twenty years have gone by since we last all saw each other. Time flies when we are having fun … right? I am excited to serve as the class corre spondent to share all the good news and updates from our class. Many thanks to Allison Honaker who has done this for our class for years! ❯ As far as life for me goes, I moved back to my home town of Idaho Springs, Colorado, about four years ago and built a house next to my childhood home—my sister and I are thrilled to have a com pound on “Marlin Mountain.” A little over one year ago, I took a new role at work and now serve as the director of community relations for Xcel Energy—Colorado. I am proud to serve on a few boards of directors for organizations focused pri marily on economic development and public edu cation. In a strangely wonderful full circle thing, I am honored to serve on the board of education for Clear Creek School District, my alma mater. My husband Jon and I have two daughters (Phebe, 9 and Piper, 7), two dogs, a guinea pig, and a few fish. I hope these notes provide you all with an update and an inspiration to continue to connect with each other. ❯ Carolyn Oldham de fended her dissertation and graduated with a Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky in inter disciplinary ed sciences! Her dissertation explores definitions of culturally and linguistically appro priate pediatric health care services through the eyes of Lexington-area Japanese sojourning mothers. The next goal is to garner funding to engage in an oral history project with past/for mer sojourning families, many of whom are here due to the region’s Toyota plant. Recently, Car olyn co-authored a book chapter on culturally re sponsive assessment. This fall, she began working full-time within UK’s College of Agriculture in occupational health, specifically farmer mental health and suicide intervention. Carolyn and her husband, Jeff ’97, have a daughter Ellie (12), and twins, Henry and Noah (9), and all are doing well. ❯ Azusa Yoshida got together with a group of friends in Madison, Wisconsin, in May for a mini-reunion. It was great to find that even after 20 years, our friendships could pick right back up, and we were the same fun, kooky roomies from our Knox days. Looking forward to many more years of fun and friendship! ❯ Sid harth Mahapatra, M.D., Ph.D., FAAP has been living great since graduating. After pursuing a

combined M.D./Ph.D. degree at Rosalind Franklin University in North Chicago, he left the Midwest to do a pediatrics residency and pedi atric critical care fellowship at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Stanford, California. Sid now works as both an intensivist in the pediatric ICU and a scientist investigating pediatric brain tumors. He’s recently been promoted from assis tant to associate professor and will be named the director for research for the Division of Critical Care at UNMC. Due to research interests, he is also a co-director for the Pediatric Cancer Re search Group. Sid and his wife, Namrata Samtani, live with their children, Vivaan (8) and Muskann (6), in California. ❯ Kyle Firebaugh moved to Long Beach, California, after Knox. After teaching first grade in Compton for five years, Kyle moved to Denver to start his business, Little Feats Soccer. This program is an introduc tory soccer program for pre-K-kindergarten kids and shows that you can combine your degree and your favorite sport to build a great career! Kyle and his family love to camp, enjoy live music, and explore Colorado—It is great to live where you play! ❯ Scott Seeliger, a community relations professional in the greater Des Moines area, was recognized as the 2021 Judy Willis Volunteer of the Year at the 2021 Heart of Greater Des Moines Heart Ball on June 17, 2021. The award is given to a member of the community who demonstrates a relentless commitment to creat ing a world of longer, healthier lives. Congratula tions Scott!

Class Correspondent: Kelly Marlin Flenniken kmarlin407@gmail.com

2002

After serving as Stillman College’s chairperson of the Department of English, Journalism, and Media Communications for 10 years, Norman Golar assumed a new role as interim dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. He has worked in this capacity since May 2020.

Class Correspondent: Jennifer Wreyford 1700 Bassett Street, #407, Denver, CO 80202, 813-482-4112, jwreyford@gmail.com

2003

Class Correspondent: Allison O’Mahen Malcom 8134 Gridley Avenue, Wauwatosa, WI 53213-3049, allison.o.malcom@gmail.com

2004

Class Correspondent: Susan C. Vitous Johnson 1312 Iles Avenue, Belvidere, IL 61008-1407, susanvitousjohnson@yahoo.com

2005

After leaving Galesburg and the Midwest 15+ years post-graduation, Akwasi Asabere returned

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Autumn Anderson ’98 after relocating from the Midwest to the high desert of Southern California.

Class Knox

our illustrious Knox College.

to the Midwest in the fall of 2020, this time to Minnesota, to build and lead a commercial term for Helix. He is settling back into the Midwest way, swapping soda for pop again, and meeting generally nice people after his time on the coasts. He’s hoping the new proximity will allow him to engage more in alumni activities and on-campus events. ❯ Ashley Steinsdoerfer Gottlieb and her husband, Jeffrey Gottlieb, continue to fall more and more in love with the Reno-Tahoe area after relocating from Chicago over three years ago. They had a great time showing off the sites to fellow Knoxies, Rebecca Halonen and Marc Schumann ’03, during their family’s visit in July 2021. ❯ In April 2021, Dennis Daniel Kim was appointed by Governor Newsom of California as the director of real property for the State of Cali fornia High-Speed Rail Authority. ❯ Sarah Lammie writes, “I just completed my 14th year of teaching kindergarten. Due to COVID, we began our year remotely and moved to hybrid si multaneous instruction in March. Many thanks to Donna Jurich for leading an independent study during my sophomore year and teaching me how to make a website and communicate with stu dents remotely. If I never have to complete a health screener, say ‘please mute your micro phone,’ or simultaneously teach a group of inperson and at-home five-year olds again, I will be happy. Sadly, our dog, Loki, passed away of a brain tumor this spring. We are now working with another under-socialized Doberman named Artemis, to teach him how to happily be a dog.” ❯ Marissa Parkin tells us, “After nearly eight happy years in Sydney, our little family is packing up and moving back to my husband’s home coun try, the U.K. The Australian border has been firmly slammed shut for nearly 18 months with

no one (including citizens) allowed in or out, ex cept in extraordinary circumstances. With no end in sight, we’ve decided that family and free(ish) movement are more important than sunshine and beaches. We are incredibly excited to be reunited with our loved ones in the U.S. and Britain, but less excited to keep our vivacious two-year old happy and safe on a trans-Pacific flight. Keep us in your thoughts!”

Class Correspondents: Marissa Parkin moeparkin@gmail.com

Ashley Steinsdoerfer Gottlieb 815-245-3648, agsteinsdoerfer@aol.com

2006

Class Correspondent: Megan Rehberg megan.rehberg@gmail.com

2007

Class Correspondents: Laura J. Wentink Marcasciano ljmarcasciano@gmail.com

Michael C. Sales KnoxClassof2007@gmail.com

2008

Devyn Mares started the Psy.D. program in school psychology at the Chicago School of Pro fessional Psychology in the fall. Her dissertation will focus on behavioral systems in charter schools and implementation effects on students. ❯ Eric Feltes has a few updates! He says “I was recently on the series finale of Shameless. I started my own life coaching business, where my primary focus is helping individuals recognize their true potential, establish short- and long-term goals, and live a life filled with purpose, joy, and bal ance.” You can find his business at www.lifecoach ingbyfeltes.com. ❯ Stephanie O’Brien had a baby in 2020, right at shut down! She also continues to work at OHSU as the director of operations for Women’s Children’s and hopes to see Chicago friends in August! ❯ Christy Dechaine writes, “My husband Pablo and I welcomed our second daughter, Matilda Celia Dechaine-Muñoz, on

3/2/21. Our first, Rosario Meredith (“Challo”) will be three in November. Our dog, Tank Dechaine (yes, he only has my last name), turned 5 in July. We are still living in Minneapolis and hoping the world will be healthy enough this winter to visit Pablo’s family in Chile. I’m grateful for far away Knox friends Ariel Lauryn, Angharad Hollingworth, and Leigh Abrams who keep me company via telephone on my evening walks with Tank.” ❯ Andy Fitz was able to visit Charlie Brown ’07 and his wife Peng Meng in Boston and met their one-year-old daughter Claire for the first time. He also had Vanessa Jeske Dow and her husband Steve over and got to meet their one-year-old daughter Emilia for the first time too! He says, “Thank God I’m done with kids … although both of theirs were very sweet!” ❯ Aaron Willits became the head football coach at our illustrious Knox College. His wife, Marrissa, two children, and their pit bull joined him in April when they bought their new home in Galesburg. ❯ Lucas Street was promoted to assistant professor of English at Augustana College, where he contin ues to teach classes and direct the Reading/Writ ing Center. ❯ Christopher Berger earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from Boston College this May. He’s teaching in their Perspectives program this fall. ❯ Marius Tan says, “It’s obviously been a crazy year with COVID, but my family and I managed all the working from home with two screaming kids (Tijmen is three and Valentine is one) quite well I must say. A big event was the change to a new position and company. I switched employers for the first time ever, and after nine years of Heineken, I decided it was good to broaden my horizon. I am now category lead for the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxem bourg for KraftHeinz. The mentality of the people and the mostly American culture of meritocracy really reminded me of the years in the U.S., so I feel right at home. Right before I

Left to right: Sabey Abraham ’01, Krista (Miller) Baetz ’01, Elizabeth Smith ’01, Kati (Lamb) Gray ’01, JaMie (Bishop) Hankla ’01, and Azusa Yoshida ’01.

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Eric Feltes ’08 on the series finale of Shameless

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Erica Stringfellow Tully ’08 and son Jude.

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Amanda Wollrab-Archer ’12

Knox Instills Leadership Skills

After graduating from Knox, Amanda Wollrab Archer ’12 got a job in Iowa at an office furniture company, doing event planning and public relations.

She is currently a senior manager of product marketing for Kwikset Locks. Kwikset is part of Spectrum Brands, one of the largest consumer packaged goods companies in the country. She is responsible for the product strategy for Kwikset, including new product development, product lifecycle management, pricing, retail listings, and go-to-market plans.

Why Knox?

I chose Knox because of its world-class education. I loved the diversity of the professors and student body. I knew my four years at Knox would be challenging and push me to develop beyond the textbook in things like critical thinking, data analytics, time management, networking, public speaking, etc., and these are all characteristics that have set me apart from my peers.

How did Knox facilitate your career success?

I think the “open door policy” at Knox really helped. Students form strong relationships with everyone on campus, from janitors to professors to even the College president. We truly are a community and the amount of support faculty and staff provide to stu dents is unique. When I started my career after Knox, I noticed early on that my peers would get nervous around company executives and almost downplay themselves in their presence because they were intimidated. I always felt the opposite. I am able to easily connect with various levels of members at my organization just like I had done at Knox. Presentations to leadership, meetings with customers, or interviewing for promotions all feel natural for me, and I really think it is because of how Knox conditioned my thinking and built my confidence during my education.

During my senior year at Knox, I was presented with two job options. One was a brand communications specialist and the other was a public relations specialist. I remember feeling overwhelmed with the decision, so I sought advice from John Spittell, Joseph E. & Judith B. Wagner Distinguished Chair in Business, Executive-in-Residence. I'll never forget what he told me. He said I should choose the public relations position because I would get a lot of exposure and opportunities in the role to network, but he also said to make sure that I take the first chance I get to move out of public relations because he's never known a CEO to come from the public relations department. I worked closely with product managers to support their product launch campaigns and through that experience, I learned that what I actually loved was product manage ment. On my one year anniversary of starting the public relations role, I told myself that I would follow John's advice and go after the next opportunity that opened up in product management. I went to bed that night and woke up the next morning to an internal job opening for an entry-level product analyst role. I went for it and have been in product management ever since!

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I think my career experience is unique. This part of business is not something that was taught at Knox but really made sense for me given my research experience in anthropology & sociology combined with my minor. The best product managers are well-rounded and understand all aspects of the business from manufacturing to financials to commercialization and sales tactics. The liberal arts curriculum at Knox plays perfectly into this. I think the diversity of classes that I was required to take at Knox really prepared me to be successful in product marketing.

Adam Vera ’09 is climbing really

started in April, we were really longing for a nice and warm vacation—as you know Dutch sum mers are nice but other than that it’s cold out here—and we managed to spend a couple of weeks in Curacao! All and all, a very good year.” ❯ I (Erica Stringfellow Tully) bought a condo in Chicago with my husband, Patrick, in April. We then welcomed a baby boy, Jude, in May, which was a lot in a one-month time frame! I am look ing forward to (hopefully) being back in person in the classroom this fall teaching my lovely 4th graders.

Class Correspondents: Miriam M. Gillan miriam.gillan@gmail.com

Erica Stringfellow Tully e.stringfellow4@gmail.com

2009

When she was a student at Knox, Jasmin Tomlins made a 180-degree turn from theatre to chemistry. At the beginning of the pandemic, she took the opportunity to make it a 360. She is cur rently artistic director of the 14th Night Players, her own online Shakespeare repertory company that casts first-come-first-serve for all roles re gardless of acting experience. After nearly 200 readings, she has players from all sorts of professions across the States and in Brazil, the U.K., and Germany. She is having a blast and would like to invite all of you to have a blast as well (www.14thnightplayers.org/join-us). Apart from that, she’ll be stage managing at the Bristol Renaissance Faire in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and has plans to cross the pond to go to drama school where Shakespeare lives. Despite turning out to be a double agent, she referred to vinegar as di lute glacial acetic acid yesterday and writes love poetry about cyclohexane, so half of her heart is still in the lab. ❯ Mike Callahan is living his life a quarter mile at a time … for family. ❯ Adam Vera is climbing really tall things. ❯ Will Gallmeyer’s updates all pale in comparison to daughter, Charlotte (one year), sleeping through the night. “Praise the great Prairie Fox.” ❯ Sarah Williams managed pandemic life in Chicago holed up in her apartment with her part ner and two cats. She still works at an animal shelter running teen programs, and plays way too much D&D in her spare time. ❯ Sam and Kate ’12 are still in Iowa City but doing less pandemic things, which is nice.

Class Correspondent: Sam Jarvis samuelpaulleejarvis@gmail.com

2010

Cami Woodruff is now a full-time associate 2D artist at Wizards of the Coast. If you play Magic: The Gathering Arena, you will see her work in the form of animated card styles (and coming soon, stickers). ❯ Clayton Besong has fully adjusted to working from home in Minneapolis. And he’s tacked on the role of father in addition to his husband role. ❯ Laura Miller Dyrda and Daniel Dyrda are expecting baby no. 2 in September,

Class Knox

tall things.

just in time for baby no. 1 to start kindergarten and begin their journey with Chicago Public Schools. They note: “Despite big challenges in the past year leading to several extra glasses of wine, we thrive.” ❯ Carolyn Hill Hand moved to Seattle at the end of 2020. In July, she started a new role as an in-house litigator at Pinterest. Her dog is still cute. (Husband still cute, too.) Say hi if you’re in Seattle! ❯ Shane Donegan shared that “thanks to some COVID stimmies we were able to buy a house in this absolute hellscape of a mar ket. The day we closed, my long-time boyfriend proposed after we got back to our house, so 2021 has been going ok.” ❯ Ben Scott lives in New York, where he is a senior designer at SCAPE Landscape Architecture, working on coastal re siliency and restoration projects in New York City, D.C., and Boston. He’s doing a very bad job of managing the Japanese knotweed currently in vading his Park Slope backyard, but he’s doing a good job of feeding the stray cats that occupy it. ❯ Brent Newman completed a Ph.D. in biologi cal sciences at Tennessee State University in Nashville, where he has lived for the past five years. He’s been heavily involved in tick and tickborne disease research. He has also worked as a laboratory scientist for the Tennessee Depart ment of Health in the Vector-Borne Diseases program. He also is excited to report that he got engaged to Desiree Jablonski this year and is looking forward to their move to Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he accepted a postdoctoral re searcher position at the University of Arkansas.

For the next two years, Brent will be traveling to and from Arkansas and Finland to work on an NSF-funded research project investigating the environmental factors leading to the spread of Puumala hantavirus infection in human and wildlife populations in collaboration with the University of Helsinki. Crazy past year and a half,

but lots of silver-linings!

❯ And as for Lauren Assaf-Holmes, she joined her firm’s hiring com mittee.

Class Correspondent: Lauren Assaf-Holmes knoxcollege2010notes@gmail.com

2011

Greetings, all! I have a fun story to share about the power of the Knox community. A few months ago, I was delighted to see an email in my inbox from an alumna from the Class of 1972. She had read my notes and saw that a classmate of mine from 2011 was currently living in Paris. Her daughter was also living in Paris and asked if we could connect the two! How cool is that? This just goes to show how fantastic our Knox com munity is—all over the world. Here’s a little glimpse at what’s happening for the Class of 2011, right here at home. ❯ Brigette Atcheson-Demke works at Evanston Hospital and still loves it. She’s training for the Chicago Triathlon as a last hurrah before starting a mas ter’s in nursing leadership and management pro gram. ❯ Chloe Bohm added a puppy, Boomer, to the family this past summer, making her and her husband both dog parents for the first time! ❯ Cat Manning Dodman, husband, Paul, and big sister, Lilibet, welcomed baby brother, Alec, to make their family complete. This fall, Cat starts the next chapter of her career after joining JP Morgan while wishing she could work from home with her little ones for many more years to come. ❯ Caitlin Fones decided that between quarantine and COVID, her body is beat up enough and so she retired from rugby after 13 years. Now, it’s all walks in the park and hikes with her adventure buddy, Gimlet. ❯ Mary Henderson continues to work for the Depart ment of Children and Family Services, where she

is now a child welfare advanced specialist. She lives in Champaign, Illinois, with daughter, Stella, who just turned six! ❯ Courtney Jude and wife, Christian ’12, are living the dream in St. Louis. This year, Courtney began his second year as the principal of Lexington Elementary. He will start a doctoral program in the fall with an emphasis on social justice in education. ❯ Sarah Lindeman teaches English in a small school in rural France and loves it, despite everything that happened this past year! ❯ Sasha Murphy and husband Sean Frohling ’10 celebrated son Silas’s first birthday and bought a house! ❯ Lin Shi graduated from her Ph.D. program. Over the past four years, she researched the environmental impact of the ICT industry. She is excited to join Amazon’s Lab 126 as a research scientist and will apply her research into practice. ❯ Amanda Sicoli Mills welcomed baby girl, Olivia Marie, in March, and mom’s already looking forward to Olivia joining the Knox College Class of 2043! ❯ Jackie Stillmaker is happily employed as an oc cupational therapist in Northbrook/Glenview School District 30. She’s a proud plant mom and is excited to celebrate the wedding of Maddie Davis ’12 in September 2021. ❯ Sam (Claypool) Temple is surviving in her Ph.D. in the public af fairs program at the University of ColoradoDenver while also raising a wonderful human (Simon) alongside Luke Temple ’08. ❯ Kelly Wiggen, DVM, DACVIM (cardiology) finished up her first year as a cardiology faculty at Miz zou’s veterinary hospital. She finally took her car dio boards exam this past June, which she passed! She is now a boarded veterinary cardiologist, hence the new letters after her name. ❯ Rosie Worthen and longtime partner, Alex, were en gaged after a perfect Montana-themed proposal. Her newish obsession in gardening (luffa sponges for the win) led her to end her time with Knox

Clayton Besong’s ’10 daughter, Olivia.

SUBMITTED

Alicia Vallorani ’11 and Alex Lindgren ’12.

SUBMITTED

Sasha Murphy ’11, Sean Frohling ’10, and baby Silas.

Kristal Romero ’13 continues surviving and thriving, with

Admission after seven years to start on a new adventure following a greener path. ❯ Alicia Vallorani and Alex Lindgren ’12 had a pandemic Zoom wedding in March 2020. Alicia was also awarded an NIMH fellowship to fund her disser tation work examining neural processing of social interactions between friends. ❯ Ramya Venigalla and Sujeen Adhikari ’12 welcomed baby daughter, Sachi Maya Adhikari. ❯ Calvin Zirkos is in Seattle trying to be a comedian. Trying.

Class Correspondent: Tim Schmeling trschmeling@gmail.com

2012

Celestina Agyekum writes: “After a few years outside my international development career track, I will be jumping back in and am looking forward to getting reacquainted. I am moving to Maryland in early fall 2021. I am preparing for new beginnings, getting back to writing, photog raphy, and international travels. I look forward to visiting Knox when time permits.” ❯ Stephanie Sorensen recently graduated with her MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She currently lives in Florida and works in New York. She still supports St. Jude and sports her Delta pride by drawing doodles for do nations (IG @donationdoodles FB DonationDoodles StephSore). Her husband continues to avoid the Knox kool-aid, but she hopes by her 10-year Re union that he will chug it with her family and friends. ❯ Karl Bair has taken on a new chal lenge as vice president of sales for the oldest pest control company in America. He is also still ac tively building his financial advisory practice in the evening. Karl is definitely burning the candle at both ends … good thing he’s not a candle. ❯

Junyoung Cho began working at Nexon Korea in 2020. He graduated with his MBA in the top 5 percent from SKK GSB in February 2021. He has zero debt from pursuing both his B.A. and MBA, thanks to generous scholarships from Knox and SKK GSB. ❯ Christina D. Warner writes: “I recently pivoted into the tech industry, where I am working in marketing at a cybersecu rity startup. Other than that, I interview execu tives and celebrities for Thrive Global (I’ve interviewed Sex in the City’s Kristin Davis, Whit ney Cummings, Al Harrington, Jill Michaels, Her Highness Sayyidi Basma Al Said, and C-suite in Fortune 500. Please feel free to get in touch—my website is christinadwarner.com.” ❯ Rachel (Clark) and Michael Cole are expecting their first baby in October 2021! They live in Coralville, Iowa, with their two cats, Mae and Aspen, and they are hoping the kitties get along with the baby. They stay busy working (Rachel as a post doc researcher studying Parkinson’s disease and Michael as a pediatric neurology fellow, both at the University of Iowa Hospital), and hanging out with friends and family when they have the chance. They are planning to make it back to Knox for Rachel’s 10-year Homecoming in 2022! ❯ Zachary Lawrence earned his doctor of medi cine (M.D.) degree from Rush Medical College in May and has moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with his wife, Alexandra Strawbridge, to begin a general surgery residency program at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine. ❯ Radhika Kuruppu O’Connor writes: “Dugan O’Connor ’11 and I bought our first home just six minutes from Maeghan Galloway and Charley Deutsch. I started my master’s in January 2021 and we’re busy spoiling our niece.” ❯ Ellen Ramsey and her partner, Josh, road-tripped from Mission, Kansas, to Door County, Wisconsin, for a visit with Annika Paulsen and Bobby Stuebi in June. Cheers to being fully vaxxed and reunited with forever friends! ❯ Charley Deutsch and Maeghan Galloway Deutsch traded in their apartment in the city for a house in the suburbs. In November 2020, they welcomed their first child—a son, August.

Class Correspondent: Aparna Kumar Boehm aparna.kumarboehm@gmail.com

2013

Ellen Ramsey ’12 and her partner, Josh, road-tripped from Mission, KS to Door County, WI for a visit with Annika Paulsen ’12 and Bobby Stuebi ’12 in June.

Basil Bryant is feeling thankful for the amazing vaccine progress and is figuring out re-entry day by day. She and her husband, Caleb, look forward to welcoming a baby in November 2021. Their house projects are nearly complete; now they just need to finish the nursery and buy a Knox onesie! ❯ Alison Gaines obtained an MFA in poetry in 2019 from the University of Florida, and got married to Brian Hake in 2020 in a very small ceremony (thanks, COVID!). They now live in Portland, Oregon, where Alison is teaching high school English. ❯ Grant Deam: “From AugustMay (2020-2021), I taught composition at McKendree University. In December, 2020 I suc cessfully defended my thesis and earned an MFA in creative writing. I got married on Friday, July 16, in Saugatuck, Michigan, to Cassandra Poto. We met while teaching at the same K-12 school in Chicago. We will be moving from the St. Louis area to Panama City, Florida. I landed a job there at Gulf Coast State College as the new writing and reading lab director, and my wife will teach fourth grade at Parker Elementary. ❯ I’m still trying to write when I can, and I’ve had a few pieces accepted for publication. Two short stories of mine will be coming out in print this summer in Running Wild Anthology of Stories Volume 5 and Kind Writers Literary Magazine.” ❯ Molly Ralston Smith married in 2016. She has recently started an online business with fellow Knox alum, Leigh Ing Evans ’02! Their business will be a year old on June 11, 2021. They wanted to create an online community of and for neurodivergent and LGBTQ+ to come together and create a vir tual safe space for them. ❯ Anna Bailliekova and John Bailliekova ’08 welcomed baby Kira Chris tine in June 2020. They live in Milwaukee, where John is the assistant athletic director and head soccer coach at Mt. Mary University (Go Blue Angels!). Anna works remotely for Zendesk as a senior data engineer and recently published a book: PostgreSQL Query Optimization (it’s a real barn-burner). ❯ Franzesca Mayer: Franzesca has left Shakespeare for the circus. She moved to Florida and is working on the new Cirque du Soleil show opening at Disney Springs soon. Life is a dream. www.franzesca.com ❯ Anna Meier: Anna is finishing her Ph.D. in political science this summer and is starting a job as an assistant professor at the University of Nottingham in the fall. “This is a desperate plea for any British Knoxies to please teach me some British slang.” ❯ Brian Paul: Brian is living with his wife, Colleen, in Quincy, Illinois and is living two doors down from Adam ’03 and Kat Zanger Brian accepted a new position as a production en gineer one year ago. The new position requires him to be clean shaven for the first time in eight years. Colleen was shocked to see Brian’s naked face for the first time. Colleen teaches freshman English and college and career readiness, a course specializing in teaching soon to be first-genera tion college students the skills that they need to succeed in college. ❯ The Quincy Knox crew has mini Knox reunions with family dinners includ

❯ Hannah

Kristal Romero continues surviving and thriving, with five years down and many more to go in our nation’s capital. She pursues her passion of fight ing for the working class at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and was promoted to port division coordinator at the onset of the pan demic. Kristal is now also the proud dog mom to a rescue named Pickle. ❯ Jill Krippel and Justin Dingle are still working at the Illinois Depart ment of Revenue and “we are involved in our union, AFSCME Local 997. We got plants and snails for our pond recently, and Justin likes to watch the animals that roam around the neigh borhood while he works from home.”

Class Knox

five years down and many more to go in our nation’s capital.

ing Dustin Paul ’04, Aunda Paul (nee Wang, ’06), Christopher Paul ’07, Samantha Paul ’10, Tyler Paul ’19, and Bridgette Ohnemus (soon to be Paul). Andrew Paul ’15, Jamie Blue ’16, and Jacob Paul ’17 visit between study breaks for graduate and medical school or when time can be taken away from the large animals at the zoo. ❯ Brian and Colleen spent time during the pan demic on Saturday night Zoom Settlers of Catan games with Nathan and Sydney Williams (nee Stensland). Brian also plays weekly virtual table top games with Jim Schwab ’10, Sable Schwab ’09, Anjali Feanaro ’09, and Scott Pinker ’11. ❯ Colleen has become friends with several of Brian’s college friends. This has led to Colleen planning summer trips with Aparna KumarBoehm ’12, Maeghan Deutsch (nee Galloway ’12), and Radhika Kupurru-O’Connor ’12).

Brian, Charley Deutsch ’12, Dugan O’Connor ’11, and David Boehm are notably not invited. ❯ John “William” Budding: William now works for Harvard Medical School in talent acquisition, hiring for administrative and research staff within the institution. He is also working toward his master’s degree in industrial-organizational psy chology from Harvard. William has also become very involved with Knox alumni activities, re cently forming the Knox New England Club and joining the Knox Alumni Council, as well as vol unteering with the Bastian Center for Career Success to coach and mentor current students and recent graduates. Living in Brookline, Massa chusetts, William keeps busy singing in a local choir, the Oriana Consort, and serves as a disabil ity rights advocate in the Boston area through various organizations. ❯ Happy to announce that Alejandro Varela and Megan Lee got engaged in September 2020 and are planning a wedding for July 2022! “We are still living and teaching in Galesburg. Our dogs Lucky and Bella are thrilled to be out in the sun and laying on a pool float this summer!” ❯ Sending condolences to the family and friends of Mary Elizabeth “Lizzy” Warner, who passed away on August 20, 2021.

Class Correspondents: Danny Schaefer danielcschaefer19@gmail.com William Budding williambudding@gmail.com

2014

Class Correspondents: Esther FarlerWestphal and Natalia Binkowski Kaplan Knoxnotes2014@gmail.com

2015

Kayla Anderson had a wild year, working as an emergency room crisis mental health clinician during the pandemic. She is currently working toward her full counseling clinical license. ❯ Camille “Cam” J. Brown is two years deep into a joint Ph.D. in English and women’s and gender studies at the University of Michigan, where they have been enjoying tons of queer-centered archival research. After a year of stay-at-home

teaching and coursework, they are looking for ward to seeing colleagues and students in real life. Cam is grateful for their incredible, supportive (“and hot!”) partner, two gorgeous pitbull sons, and a remarkable indoor plant collection. They are also grateful to Knox for many things— especially the four years of conditioning for Michigan winters, which aren’t as bad as the ones in Galesburg! ❯ Adrita Deb Burman graduated from B-School (Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad) with her MBA in 2020. Shortly after, she received a job at Procter & Gamble, India, where she currently works as a senior brand manager. ❯ Leslie Carman began working as a GIS analyst I at Thurston County, Washing ton, in 2019. Shortly after, she finished her mas ter of environmental studies degree at Evergreen State College. This summer, she was promoted to her new job as a GIS analyst II at Thurston County. Leslie lives with her partner and two wonderful, sassy cats who have been thrilled about their work-from-home schedules. ❯ Celinda Davis recently celebrated her two-year anniversary as an academic advisor at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. When not serving col lege students, she spends her time with vacci nated friends, doing puzzles, and playing with her very energetic cat, Mari. ❯ Kate Hovda is hap pily vaccinated and is thrilled to announce she is attending the University of Washington’s master in library and information science program as of this fall. ❯ Mikko Jimenez is excited to be going back to school. He will be moving to Colorado, where he has accepted a position at Colorado State University to study bird migration for his Ph.D. ❯ Matthew Klich continues to direct his business while attending the University of Cincinnati’s computer science and engineering Ph.D. program. ❯ Abby Kravis spent the last few years hopping between jobs and moving around the world, fulfilling her desire for adventure. She has now settled into a house in Virginia Beach with her partner, where she is soul-searching to find a long-term career. ❯ Bethany Larson has lived in Japan for the past six years but returned to the States this summer to start grad school in Arizona. ❯ Eve Martinez wed in January 2020. In 2021, she graduated with a Ph.D. in chemistry from Purdue University. She works in Santa Clara, California, as a materials scientist. She is living her best life with her husband and pets, Goji and Taco. ❯ Claire T. Neri graduated with her master’s in English in 2018. Her thesis, a fulllength novel titled Orphans of War, is searching for a home, so if you are a publisher/agent please reach out (ctneri@outlook.com)! In January 2021, she and her great-aunt, Dorothy, adopted their second kitten, Macaroni (“Mac”), making Nim bus very jealous. ❯ Mark Muniz, Forrest Marie, and Missy Preston all continue to reside in Chicago—tackling whatever life throws at them as a family. Missy and Mark are ready to start rocking again in their band, The God Awful Small Affairs, while the future Reverend Marie draws monsters and acts as a benevolent mother

to all trans youth of the 312. ❯ Laura Myers moved to Oregon in 2018, where she has been writing professionally as a copywriter and loving the rainy, chill weather there ever since! In 2019, she and her fiance, Yon, rescued a sweet, shy bea gle and named him Archie. They are intent on giving him the best life possible. In 2022, Laura will marry her high school sweetheart. She is cur rently working on her first novel and says her years in the PNW (Pacific Northwest) have been pretty good. ❯ Katie White Parra and Alvaro Parra recently celebrated their two-year anniver sary, having wed on May 25, 2019. They also moved into their new home this year. ❯ Emily Passarelli wed her partner, Aarudra, in 2019. She is excited to have started her new job as the pro gram and outreach manager at the sustainability in prisons project. As her side gig, she will be teaching her first college-level environmental sci ences class to students who are incarcerated in Washington. ❯ Ashlee Pitts, new homeowner, recently started a new position as dean of stu dents and families at a school in Jackson, Missis sippi. ❯ Cody Sehl just bought a house in Denver, Colorado, so “it looks like (I’ll) be here for a while!” ❯ Samantha Smith has officially become a Galesburger, having lived here for the majority of time since graduation. She manages the Community Treasures thrift store on Main Street and recently married Josh Christianson (“yes, from the Beanhive!”). They just very hap pily adopted two kittens. ❯ Mike Sprinkle wed Miniona Lungalang ’11 in 2020. In May 2021, he graduated magna cum laude from the Univer sity of Illinois College of Law. After taking the July bar exam, he will work for the Illinois attor

Zane Carlson ’16 and Ashleigh Brown.

ney general this fall. ❯ Joella Travis celebrated her two-year anniversary as the youth service li brarian at Rantoul Public Library, in Rantoul, Illinois, where she has worked since April 29, 2019.

❯ Alexia Vasilopoulos celebrated her two-year anniversary as the director of special ed ucation at Harriet Tubman Charter School in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is also one of 12 special education leaders in Louisiana to be in a leadership fellowship, which was created by the Department of Education. Alexia enjoys explor ing NOLA cuisine with her dog, Tomato, and blasting the AC all year round. “I miss the Class of 2015 dearly!”

Class Correspondents: Celinda Davis, Abby Kravis, Claire Neri knox2015reps@gmail.com

2016

Carly Finan (Taylor) moved to Buffalo, New York, in 2019 where they continue to write, pub lish, and make visual art. They serve as the volun teer art editor for the online and print magazine Variant Literature and are taking time off from

Jordan Anderson ’19 and his team at NFL Media were

traditional work beginning in August 2021 to provide freelance editorial services and focus on their own creative projects. In May 2021, they married their quarantine buddy, Devøn Finan, with whom they usually succeed in wrangling three cats. Tevin Liao ’17 officiated the wedding. ❯ Weipeng Shen: “After graduating from Knox College, with special thanks to the study abroad program in my last semester of my senior year, my eyes are really opened. I found my purpose in the healthcare industry, because I want to make a change in people’s lives. Therefore, after I fin ished my graduate school at SUNY Buffalo Jacob’s School of Medicine, I joined Johnson & Johnson as an analytical scientist to solve prob lems in therapeutics development. Now, with all the experience I have gotten, I have joined a fi nance company and plan to use both my scientific knowledge and the power of capitalism to really make changes in the lives of patients and their families.” ❯ Ellen Lipo resides in Chicago, where she is entering her sixth year of teaching. ❯ Maggie St.Clair is living in Denver and ap proaching the end of her third year with Special Olympics Colorado as donor relations manager. ❯ Zane David Carlson and partner, Ashleigh Brown, will marry on October 30, 2021, with a spook-tacular celebration for family and friends! They appreciate well wishes and blessings in this exciting time. ❯ Annie Ford and Nate Moore got married on October 12, 2019! ❯ Amalia Hertel married Timothy Prohofsky in September 2020. They are living in Minnesota with their three dogs: Teegan (class of 2016), Gideon, and Tobermory. ❯ Jay Greve: “I’m a tour guide with Chicago Crime Tours, and the Oasis Midnight Broadcast, the audio drama I’m creating with Aidan Murphy, is halfway through its first sea son!” ❯ Nils Leitz (gay & sober) is moving across the country in August to start a new job in San Francisco. ❯ Pragyaditya Proga Mukerjee writes: “Hey Knoxies, hope you are doing well! I wanted to share an update with my Knox com munity. I’ve worked in the digital marketing and communications space for the past five years. During the pandemic, I started NADA (Not A Design Agency) in partnership with a friend, to service some of the retail businesses that needed

help making the transition to digital. We’re cur rently servicing seven brands from Australia, the U.S., and India across food, fashion, and tech. We’re providing digital solutions such as social media, UI/UX design, branding, and content writing. Our goal is to offer agency quality work at economical rates made possible because of our outsourcing connections. ❯ Wishing you all good health at this time!”

Class Correspondent: Kati Stemple kstemple2012@gmail.com

2017

Carley Bechen moved from Illinois back to Washington this fall and started medical school at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sci ences. ❯ Morgan Madderom adopted a little dog named Sunshine who loves running with Morgan and going to the dog beach. Morgan is working on her master’s of urban planning and policy at University of Illinois Chicago. She spent the summer interning at her alderman’s office. ❯ Chloe Vollenweider began a Ph.D. in drama at Queen Mary’s University London in September. Her research focuses on the intersection between disability and costume studies. ❯ Theresa O’Keefe completed a master’s of nonprofit man agement and is working on a master’s in social work (MSW). She plans to pursue her clinical so cial work license and is moving to Montana with her husband. ❯ Yaoska Mayorga started her master’s in social work at Tulane University. ❯ Steffi Antony completed 1.5 years of working as a pediatric psychiatric RN. She got engaged to her fiancé in March 2021, and they are currently planning a wedding for June 2022. ❯ Max Wallace also got engaged this year. He and his fiancée are hoping to get married in autumn 2022.

❯ J.C. Stokes left her job in education during COVID and started a new role as a con tent specialist at CDW in Chicago. She is grate ful for the continued health of her friends and family.

❯ Brenna Davis was promoted to case manager at the Community Action Agency of Greater Kansas City, where she has been working since the pandemic began. ❯ Jakub Dulak has been working on several film/TV sets, including

Katie White Parra ’15 and Alvaro Parra— May 25, 2019

Carly Taylor ’16 and Devøn Finan—May 23, 2021 Amalia Hertel ’16 and Timothy Prohofsky— September 6, 2020

Class Knox

nominated for an Emmy in outstanding digital innovation!

away, but they are now the proud parent of two kittens, Fjord and Freyja. ❯ Casie Panganiban moved to Vancouver after graduation and was re cently hired as a K-12 school advocate by the Squamish Nation. She is deeply honored to take on this role and is excited to support learning in a new way! ❯ Tevin Liao reports that their cat, Voidling, is now bigger than their other cat, though he will always be Tevin’s “little Voidling.”

Class Correspondents: Jen Ripka, Theresa Murphy jripka1327@gmail.com, murpth@gmail.com

2018

Class Correspondents: Atithya Ghai atithya@gmail.com

The 4400 on CBS and Fight Before Christmas for HBO Max. He recently moved to Los Angeles. ❯ Abby Neuhauser Rapp finished medical school in May and moved back to Peoria to complete her residency in emergency medicine at OSF St. Francis. She and her husband bought a house and are settling in. ❯ Olivia Thiel works as a product information specialist at Blick Art Materials in Galesburg. She bought a darling brick house on North Prairie Street with her partner and cat and enjoys painting outside and gardening whenever the weather is nice. ❯ Kilee Vega joined the Army National Guard in 2019 and is currently on a yearlong rotation in Europe. ❯ Kieran Whit tenburg has seen their work responsibilities ex pand this year, and is no longer a junior developer. They’re also seeking a legal name change, which they’re excited about! ❯ Elizabeth Clay started working for the Toyota Technologi cal Institute in Chicago in January 2021, and is fi nally putting her English degree to use managing print and digital publications. She and partner Nick Sienkiewicz ’15 spend their free time hang ing out with their dogs, drinking gin and tonics, and planning a remodel of their Naperville home. ❯ Kam Wells began working as data engi neer, baseball systems for the Boston Red Sox. ❯ Emma Downing finished her BSN from Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) in 2020 and became an RN. She’s now pursuing her DNP in Nurse Midwifery at OHSU and hopes to help pregnant people have empowering birth experi ences. ❯ Anastasia Gamble has been working on her art, which gives her inner peace and a greater appreciation for her loved ones and life. You can view her art on Instagram (@anastasia.gambleart) and Facebook (Art by Anastasia). ❯ Mike Sockol has loved working as a social worker at a community senior center and garden in Evanston and as a note-taker for stu dents with disabilities while completing his mas ter’s in visual studies at School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Recently, Mike began a Ph.D. pro gram studying Marx and environmental theory at Duke University. ❯ Kalie McGuire is proud to say that she worked for Joe Biden in North Car olina during the 2020 presidential campaign. She currently lives in New Jersey and is working to

re-elect Governor Phil Murphy. ❯ Theresa Murphy has been working at Wrigley Field and doing more photography and cosplay this past year. You can find her work on social media (@murpthphotos). ❯ Michelle Stomberski had a baby! His name is Avian. ❯ Elisabeth Zarnoti works at YWCA St. Paul as a database specialist. In her free time, she enjoys watching TV and playing tabletop games with Sean Ramsey ’18. ❯ Jinglun Ding moved to Pittsburgh last year for his master’s in software engineering at Carnegie Mellon University and will graduate in Decem ber. ❯ Selina Aviles is a Las Vegas Teach For America Corps member and is attending UNLV for her master’s while also teaching 2nd grade full time. ❯ Ryan Lee Foxall has been managing op erations at a pastured pork and poultry farm. They also started tattooing and are getting back into painting. Despite a pandemic, ice storms, wildfires, and heat waves crashing down on their hometown, things are going relatively well. ❯ Andy Van Buskirk spends most of his time rais ing his son, William, but he also bartends and plays soccer in a competitive beer league. His lit tle family is happy as can be. ❯ Stephanie Nikitenko moved in with her long-term partner, Kyle Dinse, in February 2021. She started work ing at an intellectual property law firm, where she focuses on trademark and copyright matters. She also switched back to her natural brunette after ten years of being blonde! ❯ Sarah Pawlicki is moving back to Illinois from Minnesota to finish her dissertation and is excited to live closer to their family and girlfriend. Their first soloauthored article was accepted for publication in Early American Studies earlier this year. ❯ Riya Tiwari moved back to Nepal, started working for Frost & Sullivan as a growth pipeline analyst. She finished her MBA from Leeds Beckett University and her PDIA course from Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership, and she started a jewelry business (www.ruri.us). ❯ Raeann Boero loves working for Catholic Charities of Oregon as their development assistant. She survived this summer’s heatwave and enjoys all the outdoor activities the Pacific Northwest has to offer. ❯ Jude Blair is a 4th grade math and science teacher with CPS. Their sweet dog Fran passed

Danielle Diaz ddiaz42@uic.edu

2019

Jordan Anderson and his team at NFL Media were nominated for an Emmy in outstanding digital innovation! Jordan was credited as the social and graphics producer. Aside from that, he is enjoying Los Angeles and its sunshine. ❯ Rafael Cho has said it succinctly and to the point: he is “chilling.” A great activity during a global pandemic. Or anytime really … . ❯ Beatriz Jimenez studied Spanish literature at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and received her master’s degree in May. Guess what? She’s delving even deeper into the subject and started pursuing her Ph.D. in Spanish literature!

❯ Jess Totten: “Immediately following Knox College graduation, I worked my way up to a su pervisor position with Blick Art Materials. I was promoted from a level 1 to a level 10 within the span of a year. This made it possible for me to purchase my first home all on my own. I have two pampered chihuahuas who are enjoying their new backyard. This August, I started pursuing my master of science degree at Western Illinois Uni versity! My focus is on prairie restoration/conser vation strategies, as well as their effects on native pollinator community ecology. Stuart Allison greatly influenced this career path. I will be for ever grateful to have had him as a professor and mentor.” ❯ Zoe May Meyer is in a master’s of li brary and information science (MLIS) program at Dominican University in River Forest. ❯ Thu Nguyen tried out various cake recipes when the pandemic began, which was lucky for her family members, who always had an amazing birthday cake to enjoy on their special day! She also dis covered the perfect counteractive activity: online hip-hop classes (her recommended website: “Steezy”). She has seen improvement and “no longer looks as awkward while dancing.” Con cerning her work, she is currently responsible for “interpreting and coding health benefit designs submitted by clients into the processing system” and “conducting system testing and resolving is sues to ensure claims are processing accurately.” Her career path goal, however, is to become a

Annie Ford ’16 and Nate Moore ’16—October 12, 2019

Allen Irvine ’20 moved to Madison, Wisconsin, and is working at

forecast analyst at her company. Even though the interview process is arduous, Thu is looking for ward to advancing onto the next round. ❯ Good luck Thu, you got this! And on a note to which we can probably all relate: she moved back to Minnesota after graduation but misses her Knox friendships and hopes to reconnect once it’s safe to do so again. The sooner, the better! ❯ Tiffany Misiura is currently working at By Your Side Autism Center in Morton Grove, Illinois, where she works with children with autism. Just within her first year on the job she has been promoted to the ABA Training Specialist! Her next step is to keep working full time, whilst attending Ball State University to get her master’s degree in ap plied behavioral analysis. ❯ Deja Jenkins writes: “I just started my second semester of grad school (online) at University of North Texas. I’m getting my master’s in library and information science and am working at the Galesburg Public Library part-time, too. I wish everyone and their loved ones the best while we all recover from COVID and its effects! Remember to be patient with yourselves :)” ❯ Val Varanese is pursuing her career as a forensic scientist in Arizona. She’s given puppies a caring home together with Bob Lallky, and they are planning to make it official and get married in 2022. Congratulations! ❯ Elena Iatropoulou-Bannat: “I’m back in Berlin, Germany, gaining invaluable practical experience in the microbiology lab of a food analysis and safety institute. Some of my biology senior re search has come in handy, and some techniques and practical applications are brand-new. How ever, the most shocking revelation is that … I miss learning the theory behind stuff: I like to know exactly how to do something, but even more importantly why. I’m also enjoying parts of being at my birthplace home (good bread, easily available whole milk, family close by, my dog!), yet I’m also going through intense patches of re verse culture shock—it’s real! Knox grew on me more than I ever thought possible, and to make sure I stay connected to y’all, I signed up to be the class correspondent. Feel free to send me your updates and life’s changes anytime, or say hi if you’re having a low day. Or a great day. Or even an in-between-kinda-day!”

Class Correspondent: Elena IatropoulouBannat eiatropoulou@knox.edu

2020

Hi everyone! We’re the class correspondents for the Class of 2020. We’re excited to introduce ourselves, and we next want to hear from you! It’s been an eventful 16 months since our virtual graduation ceremony—did you move, get a job, get a pet, take a trip, volunteer, get married, or something else? We know for a fact that some of you did these things—we’ve seen your social media posts. We’d love to include your note in the next issue, so don’t be shy; write to us at knox classof2020@gmail.com! ❯ Natasha Caudill

moved to Chicago, Illinois, and is serving her sec ond year at City Year Chicago as a civic engage ment service leader. She has also gained a following on TikTok through her advocacy of ac cessibility and inclusivity for those with visual im pairments and blindness. ❯ Allen Irvine moved to Madison, Wisconsin, and is working at Epic (the medical software corporation, not the Fort nite developer). “My brain is filling up with healthcare knowledge and TLAs (three-letter acronyms), but I’ll always save room for the valu able lessons I learned at Knox—especially the ones about the exploitation of labor.” He lives with James Cook and Amanda Espinosa; to gether they play D&D while drinking out of their senior challenge pint glasses. ❯ Cayne Randle is currently entering her second year at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. She moved to Chicago from Springfield, Illinois, and spent last summer taking classes and working with the Illinois Innocence Project. ❯ Courtney Pletcher moved to Northern Colorado from Illinois in August 2020 to serve as the museum education access facilitator at the Longmont Mu seum through the AmeriCorps VISTA program.  Class Correspondents: Natasha Caudill, Allen Irvine, Cayne Randle, Courtney Pletcher knoxclassof2020@gmail.com

Marriages and Unions

Allan Penwell ’66 and Peggy Hargis on December 1, 2020.

Alicia Vallorani ’11 and Alex Lindgren ’12 in March 2020.

Grant Deam ’13 and Cassandra Poto on July 16, 2021.

Alison Gaines ’13 and Brian Hake on August 1, 2020.

Katie White ’15 and Alvaro Parra ’15 on May 25, 2019.

Samantha Smith ’15 and Josh Christianson on December 21, 2020.

Emily Passarelli ’15 and Aarudra Moudgalya on December 27, 2019.

Annie Ford ’16 and Nate Moore ’16 on October 12, 2019.

Amalia Hertel ’16 and Timothy Prohofsky on September 6, 2020.

Carly Taylor ’16 and Devøn Finan on May 23, 2021.

Deaths

Thomas Howes ’43 on 2/2/2021.

Virginia Sackrison King ’44 on 5/9/2021.

R. Carmen Decker ’45 on 1/30/2021.

Nancy Ockert Stanley ’45 on 1/27/2021.

Shyla Slobodkin Wollman ’46 on 6/7/2021.

Emily Chick Jackson ’47 on 4/27/2021.

John L. Rowen ’48 on 3/4/2017.

Sidney Norris ’48 on 9/20/2020.

Elizabeth Van Steenwyk ’48 on 7/22/2021.

Russell E. Wahlgren ’49 on 8/16/2016.

Jeanne Kelly Salvesen-Phillips ’49 on 6/7/2021.

Janis Coleman Cook ’49 on 3/1/2021.

Chester M. Walters ’49 on 9/20/2017.

Patricia Howell Allen ’49 on 9/6/2020.

Jean McDowall Nelson ’49 on 5/14/2021.

Thomas H. Miner ’50 on 4/10/2020.

Marjorie Cecil Burgess ’50 on 2/13/2021.

Robert L. Darcy ’50 on 5/29/2021.

Robert E. Pownall ’51 on 7/26/2018.

Barbara Pebler Hughbanks ’51 on 5/11/2020.

Robert B. Gutstein ’51 on 5/6/2020.

Ralph T. Nelson ’52 on 1/14/2021.

Bernard J. Nussbaum ’52 on 2/23/2019.

Joseph Cerny ’52 on 2/15/2021.

Harlow B. Hosford ’53 on 12/31/2020.

Don Stoffel ’54 2/23/2021.

Anna Mae Normandin Watson ’54 on 4/2/2021.

Joan Mannion Manierre ’54 on 4/7/2021.

Bruce Falk ’55 on 2/23/2021.

Dorothy Thomas Wharton ’55 on 5/29/2021.

Elna Brock Petersen ’55 on 6/17/2021.

Judith Gunn Purdon ’56 on 4/6/2021.

Wendell A. Stoike ’56 on 5/16/2021.

Charles C. Haggerty ’56 on 6/2/2021.

Burt A. Polk ’56 on 6/4/2021.

Joelle Dell Sawicki ’57 on 5/14/2021.

John Krenzer ’58 on 3/27/2021.

Paula Fritze Marin ’58 on 6/23/2021.

Clark McDaniel ’59 on 3/7/2021.

Robert E. Lombardi ’60 on 5/28/2021.

David R. Grout ’61 on 1/13/2021.

William (Bill) A. Fay ’61 on 6/15/2021.

Marcia Filkins Brown ’61 on 3/8/2021.

Robert Wayne Brand ’61 on 5/16/2021.

Stephen Klinger ’62 on 4/11/2021.

Donald R. Norton ’62 on 1/28/2021.

Eustace Gane II ’62 on 2/7/2021.

William J. Pannier III ’62 on 5/20/2021.

Katherine Keleher Barber ’62 on 5/10/2021.

James Gustine ’62 on 4/7/2021.

Michael J. Atherton ’63 on 3/18/2018.

George W. Edwards ’64 on 6/13/2021.

Richard M. Crooker ’65 on 4/30/2021.

Janell Stevens Mesic ’65 on 11/9/2017.

Edward A. Havens ’65 on 5/10/2021.

Phyllis Short Hawkinson ’67 on 5/28/2021.

Donald B. Lowe III ’68 on 3/21/2021.

G. Stephan Lancaster ’68 on 2/12/2021.

William E. Barnhart ’68 on 7/3/2021.

Marla Katz Coquillette ’68 on 6/15/2021.

Lynn E. Heidinger-Brown ’68 on 6/1/2020.

Samuel H. Rubinfeld ’69 on 2/12/2017.

Henry E. Murphy ’71 on 4/30/2021.

Lawrence E. Brown ’71 on 6/15/2021.

Coral Carlson ’72 on 3/30/2021.

Keith Larson ’72 on 8/10/2016.

Martha A. Dawson ’72 on 12/6/2018.

Richard E. Wilson ’73 on 3/15/2021.

Dan L. Patterson ’73 on 4/1/2021.

Paul B. Soper ’74 in March 2021.

Judy Middleton Anderson ’75 on 2/18/2021.

Rodney A. Flaherty ’76 on 2/5/2021.

Ronald E. Presley ’77 on 5/24/2021.

Class Knox

Epic (the medical software corporation, not the Fortnite developer).

Thomas Deets ’77 on 3/13/2018.

Michael Quirk ’80 on 2/19/2021.

Scott William Reese ’87 on 4/26/2021.

Jon Gallagher ’94 on 4/24/2021.

Stephanie Gerber Hall ’98 on 1/4/2021.

Mary Elizabeth “Lizzy” Warner ’13 on 8/20/2021.

Austin D. Rauch ’22 on 7/2/2021.

Deaths of Friends

Jane Rendall, spouse of George Rendall ’51, on 4/14/2018.

David Schuldt, spouse of Sandra Sherrick Schuldt ’62 on 5/6/2019.

Charles K. Smalley, spouse of Lori ReynoldsSmalley ’82, on 7/3/2019.

Max Kahn, spouse of Kathleen Lampe ’72, on 9/12/2019.

Charles L. Peart, spouse of Linda J. Peart ’88, on 5/28/2020.

Roy Ohata, spouse of Sachie Ozaki Ohata ’55, on 10/28/2020.

Edmundo Bendezu, former College faculty and spouse of Mary Welch Bendezu ’65, on 10/30/2020.

Shirley Park, daughter of Carolyn Swartz Park ’55, on 1/5/21.

Lynne F. Lipsey, former College employee, on 1/10/2021.

Theodore P. Wright, Jr., friend of the College, on 1/12/2021.

Thomas Temple, spouse of Ingrid Temple ’62, on 1/21/21.

David O’Brien, spouse of Jean Anderson O’Brien ’93 in March, 2021.

Gina D. Zindt, former College employee, on 3/4/2021.

Barry Barash, former College Trustee, on 3/9/2021.

Durema Fitzgerald Kohl, mother of Laura Dare ’74, on 3/16/2021.

Dennis William Parks, former College employee, on 3/28/2021.

Janet Jamieson, spouse of Robert J. Jamieson ’65, on 4/2/2021.

William Coates, father of Susan Plomin ’86, on 4/13/2021.

Anne Markgraf Ward, spouse of former College emeritus faculty member George Ward, on 4/17/2021.

Barbara Sheldon, friend of the College, on 4/25/2021.

Lael F. Johnson, father of Inga Lawler, ’90 and Eva Petersen, ’85, on 4/28/2021.

Dorothy (Willie) Bramlett Ferguson, friend of the College, on 5/1/2021.

Alan Irish, spouse of Elizabeth “Beth” Irish ’66, on 5/15/21.

Daniel B. Stoerzbach, friend of the College, on 5/16/2021.

Herbert Schillereff, father of Sharon Schillereff ’82 on 5/17/2021.

In Memoriam

Robert F. Seibert ’63, Robert W. Murphy Chair in Political Science

Longtime Knox College professor Robert F. Seibert ’63, who first arrived on campus to study political science and later returned to teach the subject to generations of students, died on April 16, 2021, in Chicago, Illinois. He was 79.

Seibert taught at Knox for 46 years, from 1967 until he retired in 2013. He held the Robert W. Murphy Chair in Political Science.

His teaching interests included comparative politics, politics of the Middle East, and political communication. At Knox, he was responsible for a wide spectrum of courses, such as Survey of Comparative Politics, The Presidency, and Politics of Education. He especially enjoyed teaching courses that were interdisciplinary and international in their scope and focus.

Seibert earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Knox in 1963, followed by a master’s degree and Ph.D. in political science from Tulane University.

He co-authored the widely used political science textbook Politics and Change in the Middle East with two other Knox professors, Roy Andersen and Jon Wagner. In 1994, he received the Knox Alumni Achievement Award.

Seibert was well known for the relationships he built and maintained with students, alumni, and colleagues.

“Without Bob, I would not have majored in political science. In fact, I declared my major after taking only one course in the department: Bob’s Survey of Comparative Politics,” said one of his former students, Karen Kampwirth ’86, a Knox faculty member who succeeded Seibert as Robert W. Murphy Chair in Political Science.

“I loved his courses and took all my electives in political science with Bob,” she added. “Without Bob, I would not have received a Ph.D. I will always remember the feeling of excitement, a eureka sort of moment, leaving his office after he told me that I should get a Ph.D. At that point, I was law school-bound, but he saw the college professor in me that I did not know was there. And the best luck of all was getting hired to teach at Knox, and having Professor Seibert become my colleague and friend.”

Seibert co-founded the integrated international studies major at Knox and served as chair of the integrated international studies program. He also co-chaired the Knox College Global Studies Center, now known as the Eleanor Stellyes Center for Global Studies.

He studied and traveled all over the world: in the Philippines as a Rotary International Fellow; in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Israel, and Syria as a Malone Fellow; and in Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Denmark, Czech Republic, Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Spain. In 1993, he co-led a delegation of college teachers to Oman and United Arab Emirates.

Seibert studied elections, public policy, international affairs, and political communication for decades, and he often was interviewed for articles that appeared in local, national, and international news media. For several years, he served as resident political analyst for KWQC-TV in the Quad Cities. He provided expert analysis for a variety of other broadcast outlets, including National Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Radio, British Broadcasting Corporation, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and Voice of America. He also researched and wrote articles for professional journals and other publications.

He was deeply committed to professional and community service, participating in numerous organizations. Among them: he served as executive director and board member of the Illinois Committee on U.S.-Arab Relations; associate member of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago; consultant to the General Government Committee at the Illinois State Constitutional Convention of 1969-70; and member of the Sunrise Rotary Club, Galesburg Exchange Club, and Knox County Tourism Council.

When members of the Knox community gathered at his retirement reception in 2013, Seibert pointed out that he had grown up in a small Illinois town, and “Knox College provided this wonderful platform for a global engagement.”

“This is an unusual and particular institution for just that kind of thing,” Seibert said at the time. “Knox reaches out to the globe.”

Seibert is survived by wife Marna Eik Seibert and daughter Brynn Seibert ’01. Memorial gifts can be made to Robert F. Seibert Endowed Faculty Fund for International Travel at Knox.

GARY DINEEN

Shoot for the Stars

This true color image, captured with the new Knox Observatory in early February 2021, shows a region of space just below the belt in the constellation of Orion including both the Running Man Nebula (left) and the Orion Nebula (right), each around 1500 light years away. Nine individual image panels were stitched together to form this mosaic, which spans a field of view of just under two full moon diameters from left to right.

Photo

Parting Shot